Though not originally from Denver, DJ, producer and party thrower Max Klaw has spent a good amount of time here, bringing great events to the city. Klaw skipped off to New York about five years ago, leaving a legacy of successful nights, like Sex Panther and Mommy's Little Monster, across the Mile High City, as well as making a serious mark in the national nightlife scene. Now bouncing between NYC and Denver, Klaw has partnered with Justin Martinez (co-owner of Denver's now-closed Beauty Bar) to form the Mystic Fax collective, which is in charge of Techno Kitty, a free, day-into-evening party happening this Sunday, August 2, at the Denver Performing Arts Complex Sculpture Park.
Teaming up with the city's Arts & Venues department, Klaw and Martinez are working to activate public spaces by bringing music and more to the community with free interactive events. "The initial concept was just to do something fun and really outside of the box that brings people into Sculpture Park in little bit of a different way than has been done before," says Klaw. "It's less Max Klaw-centric; I'm taking a step back and trying to create platforms for arts and the community to come together. My strong suit is music, so it makes a lot of sense to rally around DJs. It's about music events in a civic space. It's not a new idea, but we're trying to do it here in Denver and do it well."
The Techno Kitty party begins at 1 p.m. with a steady stream of DJs hitting the decks throughout the day, including locals like L.A. Zwicky, Sylent EFX, DJ Skeena. As the sun goes down, an Internet cat-video film festival will begin on a giant screen. Party-goers are encouraged to dress up, don whiskers and kitty ears and be prepared to dance to a diverse selection of tracks from some of the city's best DJs. There will also be a miniature golf course set up and a beer garden for afternoon imbibing, plus food-truck options like Scratch Comfort Food and Radek's European Kitchen.
Klaw notes that this is the first in what looks to be many free events in cool spaces around the city put on by his Mystic Fax Collective and Arts & Venues. "Embracing culture is a huge part of what makes a place interesting. There are a ton of stories to be told, and what a better way to do that than through working directly with the city to bolster what all of these people moving here from other places are expecting from a city? That's our goal with Techno Kitty — to get people in the park, connect people with good music and local brands, and do it in a free or low-cost way."
Techno Kitty prances into Sculpture Park this Sunday, August 2, starting at 1 p.m. The dance party is free and open to all; free on-site bicycle parking is available. For more information and a full list of participating DJs, visit theTechno Kitty website.