On Aug. 31, Ridgewood nightclub Earthly Delights celebrated its one-year anniversary by putting on a non-stop, three-day dance party. Aside from a few operation breaks in the morning, attendees reveled in up to 50 hours of live DJ sets, interspersed with a variety of pop-up events like an arts and craft station, flash tattoos, and a live photobooth.
Taking its name from the iconic Hieronymus Bosch’s triptych “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” the nightclub made a name for itself in New York nightlife by housing both local talent as well as big-name acts like Aurora Halal, Eli Escobar, and Berghain resident Massimiliano Pagliara. Attendees praised the venue’s top-notch sound system, vivid interior design, and involvement in the local community. Inside the nightclub lies a two-floor dance floor, bar, and dining area with food provided by the local Mexican restaurant Mr. Taco.
The joyous one-year anniversary comes with bittersweet news in the background, however. Starting Sept. 2, Earthly Delights transitioned to a private event-only venue and it will ultimately close on Nov. 30. Theresa Serrian, one of the nightclub’s founders, said the decision ultimately came due to the rising costs of sustaining nightlife, including high rent prices and an unstable economy, as well as lingering public hesitation to go out following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think a lot of people came to the space, loved the space, perhaps did not realize it was going to be so fleeting, and are going to come back and see us this weekend,” Serrian said ahead of the weekend’s events. “So definitely celebratory, a little bittersweet, but our team is super strong, and these artists have been super generous with their time, and the coordination is pretty epic.”
The one-year anniversary kicked off on Friday, Aug. 29 at 6 p.m. with a variety of local New York DJs as well as an arts and crafts station hosted by the local collective Rave Cafe. The event went well into the following morning, finishing with a back-to-back (B2B) group DJ set from the new Montreal record label Non-Friction Records. Dancers packed the iconic “Womb Room,” the upstairs dance floor designed by New York-based artist Breakfast Garbowski, well into the peak of the night, swaying as the thumping sounds of techno and bass music filled the nightclub.
Saturday’s festivities began at 3 p.m., with local DJs opening as attendees got their photos taken in a pop up photobooth. Several DJ representatives of local record labels played this night, including Nick Boyd from Sorry Records, sola system from SLICK DOWN, and Kate Stein from 99FVR. The night capped off with rave collective MORPHISM NYC, which has previously put on artists like Takuya Nakamura and Machine Girl. Sunday marked both the last day of the event as well as the last day Earthly Delights operated as a public nightclub, wrapping up with a final brunch on Labor Day.
“We did our first non-stop last New Years Eve, and that was 18 hours of continuous music,” Serrian told Gay City News. “I sort of wanted to top it with this one.”
On top of its rotating cast of local and international nightlife talent, Earthly Delights became known in the nightlife community for its inclusivity towards the LGBTQ community and people of color. Throughout the past year, the nightclub held several fundraisers for marginalized communities, giving proceeds to local mutual aid organizations like TRAN4NY or families affected by the war in Palestine. Serrian said she wanted the venue to go out with a bang, particularly. Between September and November, she hopes members of the local nightlife community will book the venue’s space and continue to utilize it for parties and events.
“It felt like the right thing to do instead of, you know, ‘Shut the doors, thanks so much guys, bye!’ right?” Serrian said. “It gives everyone a chance to enjoy the space one more time while we can still sustain ourselves and have a graceful exit.”
