I would describe myself as sexually liberal. Very little fazes me. I don’t blush when I talk about sex. So, I don’t know what I was expecting when I decided to go to a sex expo, but Sexapalooza was not it.
I stepped into a dimly lit Ottawa Convention Centre, the entire room pulsing with the low beat of an ambiguous song. Crowds of people filed along, some carrying bags, more than a few . . . er, licking phallic lollipops.
There were stalls filled with more sex toys than I knew existed. If there’s a hole in your body, Sexapalooza had a toy that goes in it.
The space was a unique mix of seeming contradictions, designed to both entice and inform. While seminars were held in a conference-like setting, there was a “dungeon” in the next room where any manner of kinky things could occur. Large screens played vintage porn, and there were displays of bullet bras and garters.
I was the odd one out at Sexapalooza. Wandering around on my own for the majority of my time there, I stood out. I was younger than most people there, and I didn’t have a partner in tow.
I went on a Saturday night, when the festivities were in full swing. Over the course of a couple hours, I saw pole dancers, fire breathers, male strippers, and a BDSM demonstration. The attractions really ran the gamut. I can’t imagine an audience that wouldn’t find some titillating attraction on display.
Participants could practise pole dancing, try out body paint, or take in any number of informative seminars. The “Art of Advanced Oral Sex,” anyone?
I felt a little uneasy at first, but I found the key was to let yourself take in the experience. Although I was out of my element, the atmosphere was always one of respect.
My overall impression is that Sexapalooza is somewhere to go to get your kink on, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Everyone, from the MC to the dancers to the people selling eight-inch glass dildos, stressed the importance of safer and consensual sex, no matter what the kink. That alone made it a win in my books.
Well, that and the penis lollipops.
