The Decentralized Dance Party, a Vancouver-based under-the-radar costumed dance extravaganza that tours throughout Canada, has tentatively scheduled a stop in the Valley on Wednesday, January 4.
There's a catch, however: Participants are gonna have to raise $1,000 before the event comes through town.
As we reported back in September, Phoenix was on a short list of 30 U.S. cities being considered to host one of a certain number of stops during the DDP's first-ever Party Safari Tour through America.
Its organizers (known only as Gary and Tom) would only bring the event -- which involves a massive throng of weirdly dressed revelers moving through an urban area while dance music is broadcasted via numerous ghetto blasters -- to the towns where at least 1,000 people agreed on Facebook to participate.
The Valley got the nod last week when organizers announced on their Facebook page that the 1,000-person threshold had been crossed. (As of this writing, exactly 1,142 locals are planning to participate.) Seattle, Portland, L.A., and Austin also met the attendance requirement and have tentatively scheduled tour dates.
Here's the rub: According to the DDP website, its organizers are mandating that cool grand must be raised via Kickstarter within the next month before the event will be completely locked down in each city.
"We are only going to stop in the cities that can fundraise the $1000 required to get us there," Gary and Tom wrote. "This money will be raised via Kickstarter.com." (Presently, a Kickstarter page has only been launched for the Seattle stop.)
While DDP itself seems like it would be total blast to attend and the fee is relatively inexpensive, the requirement reeks of bait and switch or a holdup situation. No mention of the $1,000 fee is made on the original Facebook page for the Phoenix stop, save for the caveat that there would be "a secret fourth factor" involved in the selection process.
One has to wonder if as many people would've signed up for the event had they known in advance that they'd have to fork over some cash.
In their defense, travel costs have been going through the roof these days, not to mention the fact that the organizers provide up to 150 boomboxes for the event. They also stated in a Canadian television interview earlier this year that the DDP is a DIY project and they've emptied their personal savings accounts to put on the tour.
Plus, if everyone who's pledged to attend via Facebook chips in, the cost is less than $1 per person. If only they would've been a bit more forthcoming about things from the start.
