Published
Tue, May 3, 2022, 11:20
- We spoke to PXSSY PALACE and Headroom Festival about their bespoke ticketing policies.
Resident Advisor spoke with two UK promoters who have introduced bespoke ticketing policies in a bid to make their events more diverse and inclusive.
PXSSY PALACE
On February 1st, the Daily Mail ran a piece with this headline: "Party at club is blasted over £112 'man tax' that charged straight males up to six times more for entry than other guests."
The party in question was London's PXSSY PALACE, which since launching in 2014 has grown in popularity, taking place at clubs like E1, Studio 9294 and The Garage. Over the years, the party has established a blueprint for encouraging diverse and inclusive dance floors, and the organisers take great care to preserve the space for women partygoers of colour, as well as queer, intersex and trans people of colour.
Introducing a tiered ticketing system—inaccurately described by the Daily Mail as a "man tax"—is one of many measures PXSSY PALACE has taken to prioritise and centre its intended demographic. As the party has grown so has the demographic of people who want to get in, cofounder Nadine Noor told RA. Pre-pandemic, the party was welcoming between 500 and 700 people every month, and pressure was beginning to mount for the door staff.
"We had men coming who were spitting on our guests, sexually harassing people," Noor said. "Our door staff were dealing with so much abuse."
According to Noor, the introduction of the tiered ticketing system has made a big impact. It works in two ways. Firstly, there's a standard price and a cheaper concessions price available for partygoers with protected characteristics. Outside of club music, Noor said, concession tickets exist for multiple groups—families, children, disabled people—so why is a party any different? This is also a small step towards reversing the economic disadvantage that many marginalised people face.
"There's the gender pay gap, but if we're talking about women of colour and trans people then that gap gets wider," said Noor.
Secondly, the ticketing system should be viewed as a deterrent. "Our party is for Black, indigenous, people of colour who are women, trans and non-binary," said Noor. "We can centre them by offering them cheaper tickets, and people outside of those groups can understand their privilege."
In the Daily Mail article, a screenshot from ticket platform DICE showed tickets for PXSSY PALACE ranging from £16.80 (for "queer women, trans and non-binary BIPOC") through to £112 (for "straight cisgender men").
"It's just a guide," Noor said. "Of course, there's plenty of people within our community that earn a lot of money or come from generational wealth. So, no matter who you are, you should pay with your heart and your wallet." (In response to the article, the £112 ticket shot up to £1,120.)
"The way the right-wing media treated us was so unnecessary," Noor added. "We got so much hate." After the article was published, PXSSY PALACE received threats that led to the hiring of more security at additional cost. The team then had to have uncomfortable conversations with E1's management about why the policy exists and how it had been twisted in the press.
PXSSY PALACE had also applied to start a Kickstarter project to hire someone to help with the brand's social media, which Noor said they "desperately need but can't afford." After the Daily Mail article, Kickstarter withdrew their acceptance of the application. "They didn't think our policies made it suitable for a person to work in our environment," said Noor.
But PXSSY PALACE won't be deterred. Alongside ticket tiers, the party has several other measures designed to take care of its punters: the PP support team, which consists of five to 15 people at every party who are trained in anti-sexual harassment; the sanctuary, an alcohol-free chill-out space with softer music, massages and food; a queer, women-led security team, hired by PXSSY PALACE, who operate the interior venue security; a buddy system, for solo ravers who want to come down in the first hour to meet people; and a donations-based taxi fund, to help disabled and trans guests of colour get home safely.
"Black trans femmes in particular have been at the heart of dance music since its inception," said Noor. "They are the best dancers, the best dressed, but they're the most at risk getting home at night."
"There's something about PXSSY Place that is liberating," astrologer and attendee Eliss told RA. "A club of people celebrating themselves despite the discrimination experienced in society is always a special moment. The policies have the protection of the community they serve at [heart], something that we don't have in general spaces. Furthermore, the policies ensure a respectful night out which everybody is worthy of."
Noor added: "I hope people are inspired by the things we do. The more we spread this kind of commitment to care and safety for our guests, the more that will spread into wider society."
Headroom Festival
Headroom, a cosy three-day festival in Wales that launched in 2019, takes a different approach. Rather than varying ticket prices, the team addresses the gender balance by selling fewer tickets to cisgender male punters. The festival is invite-only, and this year the balance of tickets is being staggered so that a maximum of 40 percent are available for cisgender males.
"More tickets are allocated to non-cis males for a more inclusive dance floor," Headroom's website reads. "Headroom strives to be a safer space and we respect and welcome people of all races, sexuality, gender expression, background, age, religion, body ability and shape."
When the festival launched, the amount of membership applications was huge. "We had so much interest from men," cofounder Jessica told RA. "The stats are there. Parties can end up being 80 percent male."
Inspired by Freerotation, another Welsh, invite-only festival, Headroom began as a party for friends and friends of friends. Today, past attendees can extend the invitations out, but only one cis male per year attended is permitted. "We want to try and keep the balance right," Jess said. "To slow down the signup of cisgender males."
According to Jess and the festival's other cofounder, Ell (AKA DJ Autumn), almost all the feedback from non-male identifying people has been positive. The only minor criticism has come from people opting for the cisgender male ticket, which, they said, reconfirms the importance of policies like Headroom's.
"I think it shows how confident men can be," Jess said, "that they think they can criticise our policy on the application form and then still be able to come."
Ricky Cato is attending Headroom this year. "I was fortunate enough to get a ticket," he told RA. "But I fully support the policy. It's clear there's a huge gender imbalance on most dance floors and I think any positive steps to try and address this should be [encouraged]. The reasons for implementing the policy have been made clear from the outset and make total sense when combined with the artists the festival has chosen to work with, so there's an understanding between the promoter and their target audience."
He added: "I think issues could arise if larger-scale promoters were to try and implement a similar policy without the support of their audience. As a ticket buyer, it would be easy to abuse such a system and you obviously don't want to be in a situation where organisers are having to question how someone identifies in order to enforce the policy."
Speaking of bigger events and promoters, Headroom hopes that more parties will consider implementing these kinds of policies. "They might worry that there's a financial risk to it," Ell said. "But it's good to have a slightly higher percentage allocated to non-male [attendees], because with the standard ten to 15 percent drop off [before an event], this helps as a buffer to make sure it stays nicely balanced."
Beyond the ticketing policy, Headroom also has a safer space policy in place, communicated via its website, mailers and on display around the venue. "By the time you arrive we've let you know it's important," Ell said. The pair are also looking to implement additional training for on-site staff this year, so once the festival is underway, it's clear who attendees can go to if they need help or support.
Headroom's only edition in 2019 was proof of how well the ticketing policy works, Jess and Ell said. The dance floor felt comfortable, spacious and there were more women dancing in front of the decks than normal. "If it's balanced people feel more comfortable moving down to the front," said Jess.
"It's easy to think of the policy as something exclusionary or a barrier," added Ell, "but the result is a more inclusive dance floor filled with people that really want to be there."
Ape-X
On March 30th, Newcastle promoter Ape-X, which hosts parties at World Headquarters, was also written about on the Daily Mail because of its ticket tiers. At the time, an event with Chaos In The CBD had general early bird tickets on sale for £9.03, with a cheaper ticket labelled "inclusivity tickets (non-male, ethnic minority, LGBTQ+, low income)" priced at £6.77. (RA reached out to the ape-X team for comment. Although one of the directors expressed interest in speaking, we have yet to receive a response.)
You can read more about PXSSY PALACE's policy via its website and Headroom's policy via Facebook.
Photos:
PXSSY PALACE header: Blue @confusedcu1ture
PXSSY PALACE two: Jerusha Rose
Headroom site: Jake Davis
Correction, May 3rd: At the promoter's request, Pussy Palace was changed to PXSSY PALACE after publication. Also, the promoter's preferred name is Nadine Noor not Nadine Artois.
