Spontaneous Celebrations

Used as a venue for my wedding party — got married at home in the Midwest, but wanted to celebrate with our rather large friend group, so hosted about 150 of our pals at Spontaneous celebrations. Reviewing it as a venue for a large party — haven’t taken any community classes there.
The frustrating:
~SC isn’t really owned by anybody — it has a board of directors. The guy who’s supposed to respond to all the inquiries about reservations was not the most responsive by email, but was pretty responsive by phone. He’s a stilt walker in a grateful dead coverband who manages a community art space in JP — he’s a very salt-​of-​the-​earth kind of guy, which worked for us, but you just need to know that that’s what you’re signing on for — someone who isn’t going to get back to your emails right away, who you may have to track down a bit, but who is super nice and very laid back in approach. I am not laid back, but I came prepared with the questions I wanted answered and got all the answers I needed in writing on our contract.
~You never quiiiite know what you’re walking into when you walk into the space. They host a ton of different kinds of community events, so how it’s decorated when you see it one time might not necessarily be the way you see it when you visit it next. People are supposed to clean up after themselves, but there are varying extents of that. You never even really know which light switch is going to turn the lights on.
The fantastic:
~Those frustrating points above are SO minor compared to the fact that for just a few hundred bucks you can have a wedding venue space (everywhere else I called was in the multiple-​thousand dollar range and had a ton of restrictions on what you could bring in/​restricted to their own catering/​facilities/​booze etc). It is a gorgeous space that kind of feels like a big summer camp recreation hall, with 2 floors, indoor balconies, a stage and a bar. It felt like a true barn-​raising — we had a dozen of our friends show up early and help with setup, hanging lights from the ceiling, bringing my husband’s dj equipment and speakers, a friend home-​brewed 5 kegs of beer and brought another several cases of booze from the company he works for, and we fed our friends with beer, a big-​batch order of pizzas from JP House of Pizza, and 150 Union Square Donuts. It was a 90s throwback dance party with a lot of games and a lot of love — low key and marvelous. I cannot have imagined a more ideal space than Spontaneous Celebrations, and to do it so affordably makes me want to scream to the world how worthwhile this place is.
RECOMMEND! HIGHLY!

Basically a party space for rent. We were upstairs where there was a stage and counter space area for a party. The main thing I’d like this place to provide would be child gates upstairs to keep smaller kids from exiting and taking a tumble down stairs! There’s also a concern with the stage area not being young child safe also. Parking is an utter nightmare.

I love Spontaneous Celebrations, there needs to be more places like this, for a community space/​hall good for all ages. Awesome community togetherness and involvement, they make Wake up the Earth Day happen, tons of arts and crafts, classes and events held here, the building is awesome, old, tons of color, life, 2 floors, plus much more. A must see!

As a resident of JP I have to say that I can’t stand the wake up the earth festival. All is it is noise and it reverberates through the whole neighborhood. If they want to have a festival do it out in the country where there is more space and less residents to bother. They close the roads and the drums are never ending. Volunteer work is great but cut the loud festivals. NOT a fan.

Wake-​up the Earth festival was impressive…

Went to my first SC event last night! It was amazing. From the beautiful lanterns to the kids dressed up in their Halloween costumes it really was a great event.
My lantern is hanging in my window since I love it so much!

I don’t know about the space on Danforth, but I know of the lantern festival and wake up the earth, both hosted by Spontaneous Celebrations. As a new resident of JP, I experienced both of these for the first time this past year, and it’s events like these that make this such a special community. Thanks Spontaneous Celebrations!

What a fantastic venue! I can’t emphasize enough how awesome this place is. I’ve been to a number of varied events here, but the free-​form accepting community atmosphere is always present.

The performance space is surprisingly attractive, with high ceilings and hardwood floor that can be used for dancing. It’s still small enough to be intimate and has a bar, but is open and feels more like a theatre.
Every performance I’ve seen here has been wonderful, a lot of local acts and a real community thrives on this space.

no reviews– how is this possible!!!
spontaneous is pretty awesome. i don’t even feel qualified to be writing the first review b/​c i probably only know ¹⁄₁₀^th of the stuff that goes on here.
a sampling of events i have seen here: gender crash (see my review, it is now called transcriptions), the femme show, mangoes with chili (queer/​trans POC roadshow), queer book readings, fundraisers, dances, lantern festival preparations… i find out about most of this stuff through the queer agenda.
it’s this kind of community space that makes JP.