An Event for One, an Event for All: Slayground

An almost empty room but it’s full of incredible music. A sweaty, crowded club but the music just isn’t hitting the ears right. So many different places. So many different groups of people. It’s hard to know where you fit in, or if you will fit in.

In January 2023, three individuals decided they were fed up with the way Milwaukee parties and club events were thrown. They wanted to create something that would be amazing, yet unfamiliar.

“We have been to parties where the crowd is right, but the music is wrong, or vice versa,” said Yuffie, a local drag queen from Milwaukee and one of the coordinators of Slayground. “We were trying to bring together the different components of nightlife that catered more towards what we were looking for and what people were longing for.”

Yuffie, Posie and Shaula, which are all names the coordinators go by, decided to host a party with the theme of indie sleaze. The event was held at High Dive Bar in Riverwest, Milwaukee. They hired three DJs, bought minimal decor and put a poster out on their social media.

Around 150 people showed up and packed the small bar. The crowd consisted of people in their late teens and early twenties, some graduates, some students. The DJs at the event were Chad Orlando, Warm Core and Excuses. It was a success, and Slayground was born.

“We knew we wanted to do an event with a theme,” said Yuffie. “There was going to be a theme every time. We also wanted to showcase local DJs that we admired.”

After Indie Sleeze came Paint the Roses Red, which was an Alice-In-Wonderland inspired theme. Then came Club Kids, Tutti Fruitti, Life in Plastic, Cunty Fair, Motherboard, Ritual, Slumber Party and Cake. Their most recent event had an attendance of almost 500 people.

“We are both into fashion and dress up and partying as well, so it was a good creative outlet for us,” said Posie, a Slayground coordinator.

A lot goes into planning an event like this. Yuffie does the graphic design for all the Slayground events. They have to reach out to DJs, and decide on a venue. Slayground has been hosted at High Dive, Falcon Bowl, Cactus Club and This is It. They have to make sure the club is able to accommodate a certain number of people.

Slayground has influence on the Milwaukee community, specifically young adults. The events are made 18+, besides the Slumber Party event, which was hosted on New Year’s. Oakley Fortin, a 19-year-old student at UW-Milwaukee attended their first slayground event this past summer, Tutti Frutti. Which was held on June 17th, 2023.

“Slayground is a place where younger queer people are able to feel included in the LGBTQ community of Milwaukee,” said Fortin. “Since many of the safe spaces for queer folks are bars, it’s great to have a dance party that is available to anyone over 18.”

Other young people agree. “It brings together an open community for open expression and a good time,” said 18-year-old Aiden Wright. Wright went to the Motherboard event, which was held on September 30. He has since gone to Cake and plans to go to more events in the future.

“This is something we are all new to. We’re trying to figure out the best way to organize stuff and make sure the night runs smoothly,” said Yuffie. “We’ve definitely run into a few issues: DJs not showing up on time, equipment not working, people jumping the line or getting in for free. It’s something you can expect with any event, but we just want to make sure we have all our stuff figured out beforehand.”

Slayground just announced that they will be hosting three events throughout the first week of June at This is It. This is It is a local LGBTQ bar and club located at 418 E Wells St.

Here is a list of dates and themes for the upcoming events. All events begin at 10pm.

June 2nd: Colors of The Rainbow

June 4th: Night of 1000 Trixies

June 6th: Queer Icons

You can follow them on Instagram @Slaygroundmke