What To Expect From The Everything To Do With Sex Show

This weekend marks the 8th year of the sex industry consumer show The Everything To Do With Sex Show in Toronto.

The tag line on everything is "admit it... you're curious", and I was.

I'm unsure what I was expecting. Maybe the One of a Kind show only with vibrators instead of vases?

What I wasn't expecting were all the booths with aromatherapy candles, the generic vacation sellers (the people touting hedonism resorts didn't particularly surprise me...), the sport supplement and protein bar places, the hot sauce sellers, the booth selling lavender products, the one with (very cute) little dresses, the one selling work out clothes, newspapers hawking subscriptions, and of course, the ubiquitous craft show item these days - crystal nail files.

Be prepared for samples of everything from lube to protein bars. In fact, when you first walk in you are greeted with a grab bag that has a bottle of lube, some free time on a porn site, and a few pamphlets. Keep this bag handy, because you might find some things (like samples of energy gum for instance) that you want to pick up along your travels. Think of it as trick or treating, only with more grown up treats.

In terms of who is there, it's a really wide range of folks. Some people use this opportunity to strut their sexual preferences, we saw people clothed in vinyl, someone being led about by a leash and of course, LOTS of cleavage. But you don't need to dress up to fit in with the crowd, it was also full of folks in jeans and tee shirts. The age range was pretty broad, so be forewarned that you might see your old high school teacher there.

There's a main stage with shows at certain times (when I was there we got a taste of some male strippers), there is a back area called the dungeon that focuses on BDSM type toys, there's even a big seminar room.

And there are loads of places to buy sex toys, lube, cuffs, feathers, porn on DVD, lingerie and on and on. Although there were some good prices here and there, I didn't notice many screaming deals. There sure is lots to choose from.

And of course, the place is FILLED with scantily clad women, some of them famous porn stars. There weren't quite so many scantily clad men, but there were some dressed up as sperm and handing out lube...

One word of advice, as with any trade/consumer type show, bring your own food, bring a bottle of water, eat beforehand, that kind of stuff. The food there is not great and VERY expensive (I believe I paid over $3 for a bottle of pop).

Parking on-site will run you $11, so you may want to try to transit if you can.

The last hint, you can buy tickets online to skip the line-up for tickets on-site.

Details:
The Everything To Do With Sex Show runs from October 19-21
Saturday 11:00am - Midnight, Sunday 11:00am - 7:00pm
Located at the Automotive Building, Exhibition Place
Tickets are $20 at the door, or $18.50 online