Clubland

Toronto’s club district: both hailed and vilified for its growing reputation as one of the most dynamic and notorious hotspots for partygoers in the world.

Background

Officially the city’s Entertainment District, most know it as Clubland. Rather apt, for it houses over 50-plus danceclubs, 25 pubs and bars, and over 50,000 partiers swarming the area on any given weekend. All crammed into 1.4 sq kilometers of Toronto’s old warehouse district-an area just west of the city’s financial hub, bordered by King and Queen to the south and north, University and Spadina to the west and east. By any measure, Clubland is the largest and most congested playground for clubbers in North America.

Synopsis

In this hour, we take the viewer into a night in the life of this maelstrom for an insider’s POV of the party-hardy revelry-following several groups of clubbers, two of Canada’s leading club owners and a young event promoter eager to make his mark … And as well, a growing controversy.

The catalyst for Clubland’s facelift in the 1990s was a decision by over-exuberant city planners to revitalize the near-abandoned area. Liberal rezoning laws not only allowed for nightclubs (more than they could have possibly imagined) but also the condo boom. Oil and water. Confrontation was inevitable.

Enter a vocal condo residents’ association, shocked by the blaring music below; a beleaguered police force stretched to its very limit; and a champion for change, the district’s city councilor (Adam Vaughan.) Pointing to almost weekly headlines trumpeting the violence, noise, public intoxication and mischief emanating from the clubs, Vaughan and the condo dwellers are pushing to rezone the area once again this time with a MASTER PLAN. In essence, to turn out the lights and unplug the loudspeakers in Clubland.

But the club owners vow to push back-as best they can. The police are trapped in the middle, but with a clear mandate to maintain some semblance of order-a 100-man special Clubland taskforce, undercover and foot patrols, mounted and bike units. 100 to control thousands. A daunting mission.

In the meantime, our young clubgoers party on, wondering why anyone would move into such an area and then be surprised and outraged at the noise, crowded streets and booze-soaked shenanigans.

This is their unofficial town square, their gathering place … This is Clubland.