The Circuit refers to an ongoing series of gay themed parties thrown in pretty much every major metropolitan area in the country at various times throughout the year. The gay circuit is a modern offshoot of the rave movement, which hit its apex in the early-to-mid 90s, and has since dwindled. Circuit parties are characterized by huge, overwhelmingly male crowds – larger events can draw as many as 25,000 attendees – multiple DJs spinning various permutations of house music, elaborate lighting and decoration, live musical or theatrical performances, gratuitous nudity, and shameless glow-stick waving. Some circuit events – like the Black Party in New York – are for-profit endeavors, but many are held as benefits for local GLBT and HIV/AIDS-related charities.
When and where do circuit parties happen?
Some larger dance clubs (like Roxy in New York City, or Velvet Nation in Washington, D.C.) cultivate a circuit-y atmosphere on a weekly basis, but the quintessential circuit party is a block of annual, one-night-only events held throughout a given city over a single weekend. There are A-list parties, like the Black Party in New York (in March), the Cherry series in Washington, D.C. (in May), the White Party in Palm Springs (April), and the Black and Blue Ball in Montreal (October), and smaller events, like Fireball in Chicago (February), the Purple Party in Dallas (May), and Blue Ball in Philadelphia (January).
What do you mean by a “block” of events?
Well, consider the White Party in Palm Beach, for example; this year, the bash began on good Friday with a “welcome party” – called “Splash”, followed by an after-party entitled “Steam” at a separate venue. The White Party itself was held on Saturday night at the Palm Springs convention center, with “Climax” – the official after-hours – starting a couple of hours before the main event ended and running well into Sunday morning. Sunday night brought the post-brunch “Sunday Tea Dance” at Marquis Park, followed by the final, “closing” party, which concluded late Monday morning. Aside from a little disco-nap and the occasional pause for nourishment, a person could conceivably not see the sunlight from Friday afternoon until Monday afternoon during a circuit weekend.
