Earlier this month, Met Radio hosted its first-ever Block Party to celebrate community radio. Met Radio’s Collective Coordinator Mariana Schuetze shares her impressions on the big day:
“The Met Radio Block Party was really a success in our eyes! Funded by the Creative Communities Grant by the Toronto Arts Council we were able to put together an exciting celebration of audio, radio and our community.
Our Block Party took over Gould Street (between Bond and Victoria Street) on Friday, August 16 with a bunch of audio-related activities! The event went on from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. During the day we had four workshops running, a live broadcast from the street to the radio waves, a team of Met Radio staff and volunteers repping the station and an amazing music showcase with incredibly talented local bands.
We had a workshop for kids, partnering with Story Planet where we had a Kids Radio Room where they could go in and record a story. For anyone that wanted to participate, we also had an Audio Time Capsule running all day, led by local journalist Yvette Sin, where attendees could record a message to the future, which will air in three years here at Met Radio! To train our ears, we also ran an Audio Scavenger Workshop, led by award-winning producer Yasaman Mansoori, where attendees had to open their ears to hunt for specific sounds around the block. Led by DJs MENDOSA and Trizzy we ran a very successful DJ workshop, where they went through three different styles of DJing. Three of our current volunteers, Roxy Raccoon from Met 30 and Micah and Delphine from The Artery went live from the Block Party, with the help of some attendees, to play some exciting tunes on air and for everyone on the street. At the end of the day, local bands Odette de Crecy and Superstar Crush took the Met Radio stage to perform 30-minute sets. The two bands performed a mix of original and cover songs and had the crowd captivated!
August 16 also marked almost a year since our rebranding party in 2023. This made the Block Party extra special, as we were able to also celebrate a year of being Met Radio and all the incredible work our team and volunteers have done so far. This event was really a show of love and care by our community and we are really happy that we got to share a bit of our world with the entire block!”
Watch our TikTok coverage of the party here:
