If you’re looking for a chance to dance the night away, with a touch of the sweltering heat of the Middle East, then look no further than Laylit. The multi-destination dance event will be touching down in Toronto on April 12th, 2025.
Laylit is a platform and collective celebrating music and artists from the Arab/SWANA region and its diaspora. Over the last six years their dance parties have carved out an unmatched place in North American and European nightlife, becoming an anticipated social gathering and unique musical experience. With recent features in the New York Times and Pitchfork and three Boiler Room events in NYC, DC and Montreal, the party is now active in more than 10 cities.
Laylit was founded in the fall of 2018 by Saphe Shamoun, Nadim Maghzal and Philippe Manasseh, three DJs originally from Aleppo and Beirut and now based between NYC and Montreal. While Shamoun was pursuing a Masters in Middle East Studies at NYU, Maghzal and Manasseh were busy recording an album for their electronic music project Wake Island. After they appeared on Shamoun’s WNYU radio show, the three quickly bonded and Laylit was born.
Fueled by a need for underrepresented groups to take part in shaping underground dancefloor culture, the party started as a small Wednesday night party at Mood Ring in Brooklyn. There, the three founders gathered with party goers and dance lovers, to share the music they grew up with amongst a community of friends. Astonished by the crowd’s reception, the party quickly outgrew the space and moved to a larger venue in the area. Then, in 2019, the party moved north, establishing itself in Montreal. Laylit became a part of festivals such as Pop Montreal, M for Montreal and the Nuit Blanche, pulling even more people into this party with a heart.
After a pandemic-induced pause, Laylit was quick to return with a new-found energy, focus and drive. The party is now based at one of NYC’s preeminent venues and art spaces, Elsewhere, where they recently took over the main hall, and at Ausgang Plaza in Montreal. And now they’re coming to Toronto. The 6ix edition of Laylit will be taking place at the Standard, an industrial venue in the eclectic Geary area that will soon be pilled with people dancing to the beats of the Middle East and beyond.
Each party takes you on a genre-spanning journey, highlighting the incredible musical diversity, depth and richness that comes out of the region. Laylit has established its place on the scene with a signature electronic sound blending shaabi, dabke, mahraganat, Arabic pop and hip-hop with contemporary, boundary pushing dance music (techno, breakbeat, hyperpop…) inspired by New York and Montreal’s thriving underground clubs. And, perhaps most importantly, Laylit works to cultivate a safe and welcoming space for everyone, with their primary values being inclusivity and unity across cultures, languages, dialects, religions, identity and sexual orientations.
In a time where turning on the news is a trauma inducing act, and scrolling your phone can leave you beyond distraught, seeking joy becomes an act of rebellion. And that’s what Laylit feels like, a place and platform to embrace joy as an Arab and as a human. To dance instead of die, to laugh instead of cry, it’s important to find these moments to refuel, so we can keep going.
The Laylit Lineup:
Upcoming Laylit events include:
Ottawa – April 11th
Toronto – April 12th
Chicago – April 19th
New York City – April 25th
Boston – April 26th
Detroit – May 25th
London – July 25th
To get your tickets to the next Laylit, just click the link below.
https://ra.co/promoters/104310
Nadia Elkharadly
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