fargone, of the London Based BDSM Community, writes about the London Fetish Fair held on 1st April.

The LFF has once again moved venues - this time, to a bar in Caledonian Road. Four of us met up to go together but unfortunately, none of us thought to bring along the directions. Luckily, I was able to contact mythy and MRK who were at the fair, and they pointed us in the right direction. The location itself isn't very obvious, as there is an entrance porch that leads to the premises. It was the sight of fetish-clad peeps that confirmed that we had arrived at our intended destination. I hadn't been to the LFF for a good 7+ months now and it was nice to know that the entrance fee was still £3.

The pub itself is huge. Once inside, there is the main floorplan where the bar is situated. There is also a separate food bar to the left and groups of tables and chairs provided for the guests' convenience. To the right, the floorplan stretched for a few more metres and this was where some stalls were situated. A stairwell to the right hand side led to several upper floors that were smaller areas that housed further stalls. To the top left of the floorplan, there was a large stairwell that led to an upper floor that was also used to hold stalls.

Most of the socialising took place near the bar area and this was where we met mythy and MRK and a few other familiar faces. Outside, people were taking full ad-Vantage of the bright sunny weather and took their drinks to socialise and chat whilst standing on the characteristic cobbled courtyard. Opposite the main pub building, the courtyard extended further into a large open area that was sheltered by hard plastic roofing overhead. There was ample room for stalls and it also had the advantage of being better ventilated than the main pub.

In terms of stallholders, I saw some familiar faces in amongst the crowds. There were the old-timers from Smithy's including

B+C whipmakers, Bizz-R, Helga or Gerde (German woman who sells the eyemasks), and Affordable Leather was situated in the courtyard section of the fair. There were also quite a few stallholders who I had not seen before but may have started to set up stall in the Drome venue. One that has stuck in my mind is a German chap by the name of Master U who specialises in rubber floggers. More about him later. Others included fetish clothing stockists including Ectomorph, JDL Leather amongst others. There was also a very good fetish photographer displaying his work in the courtyard.

Personally, I thought the venue an excellent winner that provided the room and depth where shoppers move around without having to twist and turn their bodies into impossible angles - one major complaint I had about Smithy's. In addition, the vast number of separate floorplans makes it an interesting shopping spree where one could delve and look.

My only winge was the fact that a couple of the upper floors (namely the ones located at the left and right hand sides) did not provide very good lighting and it was very hard to make out what people were selling!! I also received the same opinion from some stallholders and most were not too enthusiastic when asked if they experienced good business. It seemed that most of the shoppers were there to see and touch rather than buy.

Personally, I had great fun buying a rubber flogger from Master U. I was fortunate enough to have two friends test out the flogger on me and it felt absolutely great! For those of you who are thinking about a rubber flogger, you can't do much better than Master U. His ware is top notch quality and he is extremely precise about his designs, pointing out the various little finishing touches that he puts into his floggers. He is also a very helpful chap who takes a lot of time to explain what each of his instruments can do.

So now I am the proud owner of this beautiful black stinger of an instrument Now to find someone to wield it **LOL**

P.S. I didn't get to sample any of the drinks or the food. The bar shut rather too early and I have to say that this is a major letdown. The food bar also shut early and was expensive expect to pay £6 for Burger and Chips. My friend said it was a nice burger but even so, no burger is worth £6 IMHO

Details of the next LFF Sunday 6th May.

Email: lff@nixnet.com