TEW Spotlight Interview With Passion UK!

Spring time 2008 will see London rocked to its erotic core as Passion explodes across the city, releasing two days of decadence and a feast of sexual pleasure as thousands of adult party goers are called to the time of their lives.

What is Passion? It is the UK’s newest and most exciting celebration of sex and sexuality, and an event which will redefine the concept of an Adult lifestyle exhibition. Mixing entertainment with shopping, parties with fashion and much more, Passion is THE not be missed event of 2008 in the UK.

We took a moment to catch up Paul and Cathy Norris, the husband and wife directing team behind the event, to learn more about Passion…

--

Hi Paul and Cathy, thanks for giving us a few minutes of your time. Organising a mega-event like Passion must take an incredible amount of preparation, and we are now only a few months away, so how is it all coming together?

It has been a manic few months but the show is now really coming together with some great exhibitors and entertainment.

Can you explain the concept of Passion? What was the inspiration behind putting on an event like this?

This has been an idea of ours for some years and we felt the time was right to launch the show. There has been a massive change in the way adult products and events are perceived by the public, moving away from the traditional male orientated marketing, to a softer more female friendly approach. This is evident in the way female sex toys are now being designed with softer curves and soft feel plastics that are a million miles away from the ‘obviously phallic’ toys that were only available to women in the past. Passion was inspired by this change and we wanted to reflect this in the look and feel of the show.

So in many ways you are the front of the pack when it comes to recognising the sensual renaissance which is occurring across right across the adult industry…

We have spent a lot of time (and money) to ensure the show has a very welcoming and friendly atmosphere. Our advertising is very sensual and designed to appeal to as wide a range of lifestyle choices as possible. We are advertising in female mainstream magazines, gay press and general High Street press. The show itself has been specially designed with colour co-ordinated carpets and stands to offer visitors a very relaxed club like atmosphere.

You’ve managed to pull a fantastic team together behind the scenes to help make Passion a reality; I notice you’ve even got Hannah Platt on board, and that she will be organising your entertainment…

Hannah comes with lots of experience and we are very pleased that she is on board. We have worked with Hannah on other projects and have always been impressed with her ability to come up with exciting, sexy ideas for entertainment. We think you will be impressed! Apart from Paul the rest of the team is all female and this brings a different perspective to an adult show. Both Charlie and Nadine, our sales team, have also worked with us before and bring a wealth of exhibition experience with them. Li Bromfield, our PR guru worked with us on another show for the adult industry last year and proved to be a key member of the team so we were really pleased when she agreed to work with us on this event.

It is certainly a strong and talented team. For those who haven’t heard of her previously, Hannah Platt is world renowned within the erotic industry as someone who knows how to put on a wickedly good show, having worked on many large scale events and for some famous brand names in the past.

What type of entertainment has Hannah got planned for Passion? Is it true she is organising some Burlesque for the occasion…

She has lots of shows organised already and some still to confirm. There will be a whole theatre dedicated to burlesque and carnival type acts. The Burlesque Theatre is being sponsored and hosted by The London Burlesque Festival (www.londonburlesquefest.com) which is run by Chaz Royal who has run Burlesque events in over 200 cities and will be providing the event with six shows on Saturday and four on Sunday. This theatre will be host to UK and international burlesque acts as well as some carnival acts including escapologists and macabre erotic performances.

There will be two, possibly three large shows on the main stage including a performance each day by Touch 2 Wild (www.touch2wild.com) who are hailed as the European version of the Pussy Cat Dolls. All of the girls are professional models in their real life and include a Miss UK contender, and a Playboy Centrefold.

The main stage will also have two fashion shows a day which will be run by Dangerous Dolly who put together a fantastic fashion show at last year’s Xpo and is planning another amazing showcase of clothing modelled by ladies and men of all shapes and sizes. There will also be walk about performances throughout the event as well.

What an incredible line-up! Passion is shaping up to be a really diverse festival; there will be something for everyone. Can you run down some of the other forms of entertainment?

There will be a club style bar area where you can sit and watch the Fashion Shows and acts on the main stage and between shows our resident DJs Sam Vangeen and GaryH, who will be known to Gaydar Radio listeners, will be playing. Sam is known for her wonderful flirty, sexy style. Visitors will be able to have their photos taken with the gorgeous Calendar Boys and for the more adventurous there is a Video Village showing some of the latest sexy DVDs on the market.

Of course it’s not just about the entertainment and fun…there is plenty of shopping to be done as well! Exhibitors are absolutely lining up to be involved; at last count you had something like over a hundred already booked, and no doubt you will have many more to come. Can you give us a few details about the range of exhibitions we can expect?

We have tried to offer our visitors as wide a range of sensual products as possible. There will be:

• Toys for the bedroom
• Sexy lingerie and corsets
• Clothes for Boys and Girls
• Must have shoes and boots
• Chocolate – enough said!
• Adventurous adult holidays
• Jewellery
• DVDs

Several of our exhibitors are launching new product ranges specifically geared towards women.

You were originally scheduled to host Passion in Brompton hall, but you’ve now changed the venue to Earls Court One. What was the reason behind that?

We were simply running out of space in the Brompton Hall because the demand for stands has been so high.

Not a bad problem to have! The demand for space obviously shows that Passion is creating a great deal of buzz and excitement…what do you put that down to? Would you say that London is hungry for an event like this?

We believe that our approach to adult shows is what people have been wanting for a long time but has yet to have been delivered. The Passion concept has been embraced because it matches the way the adult industry is changing and evolving, with a greater acceptance that there are more and more female customers entering the market.

Can you explain for members of our audience who might not have been to an adult lifestyle event like Passion before the type of atmosphere they could expect to find? Will it be intimidating for someone who is new to something like Passion?

As we mentioned above Passion has been designed to be very welcoming from the moment you walk through the main door. The concept behind the show is to make the overall feel to be sexy and sensual, as well as fun and entertaining. We are deliberately avoiding the traditional ‘Sex Shop’ look as this has not been perceived as being very inviting to women.

So expanding on that a little more, what type of people will come to Passion? Are we talking regular folks, or is it more of a decadent crowd? More singles than couples?

We want to appeal to all types of people, regardless of their lifestyle choices. Passion is for adventurous and open minded adults that want to enhance their sex lives in some way. We anticipate that there will be a large proportion of couples, though that could be of any gender mix. However we are very confident that any single woman would not feel intimidated at Passion.

I want to ask you about a couple of parties I’ve heard you are organising around Passion. On the Friday night (23rd May), in Vauxhall, you have teamed with SMACK and will host one of London’s biggest gay fancy dress parties. Can you tell us a bit more about that?

Smack is a long running gay girls party where men are allowed as long as they are respectful and dressed up! Smack is a collaboration of up to six clubs, each with its own vibe and crowd. It was a great club to link up with because it covers such a diverse range of gay girls and also reflects the fun in sexy clubbing. Passion is about having fun whilst being erotic. The theme for this event will be Heaven and Hell.

And then on the Saturday night (24th May), you have a party for couples which will be held in a luxury secret location in central London…that sounds incredibly exciting. Is this still hush-hush or can we twist your arm to reveal a few more details?

I am afraid its still hush-hush and will be couples only. We love the excitement of keeping the location secret and only those who have bought tickets will find out where it is the day before the event. Think eyes wide shut. The tickets will be all inclusive and we will have all sorts of entertainment and surprises for the guests. It will be for limited numbers only and there is a possibility that if it sells out we may have an additional party on the Sunday night.

I know word is getting around through the media and on the internet; anticipation is building. People have taken this concept and run with it…it must be incredibly exciting seeing all of this positive attention gathering momentum?

When we launched Passion we knew it was what people had been looking for but we could never have anticipated such an amazingly positive response from both the adult industry and the public. We have been overwhelmed with the reaction from everyone. It’s going to be a great event!

No doubt it will. Passion is unleashed on the 24th and 25th May 2008 (Bank Holiday Long Weekend!) at London’s Earls Court One and promises to be one of the most exciting erotic events ever seen. For more details or ticket sales, head to Passion central at www.Passion-uk.com.