And at that point, it probably was. But I’m afraid the 2019 GFB Weekend just held in Berlin easily trounced its predecessor, exceeding expectations in very many respects.

From the opening Kinky Cocktails party to the headlining Ball itself, this premier European fetish fest effortlessly ramped up its credentials with an unprecedented number of attendees — including what must surely have been its largest ever international crowd.

I got an early hint of how multi-national the whole thing would turn out to be when, standing outside the entrance to 260 Grad where the Kinky Cocktails/Fetishistas Directory launch party was held on Wednesday evening (May 29), the first five people to arrive for the event were all Australian!

They turned out to be the vanguard for a much bigger crowd from all corners of the globe who came to the first night and received one of our exclusive Fetishistas Directory promo gift packs. 

The packs were ably handed out by our latex-clad greeter Vero, who also helps on the Bondinage stand at the Fair. I last saw her towards the end of the evening getting her rubber-stockinged feet massaged by Fetishistas video presenter Peter Monochrome. Something there for everyone, then.

Each gift pack included a little silver metal pill-box stamped with a Fetishistas Directory logo and stuffed with mints. These freebies went down exceedingly well, and rumour has it that some people even found other uses for the tins once the mints were consumed. 

The same Wednesday evening also played host to Savage Wear’s party at Badehaus, which I’ve enjoyed in recent years. Under other circumstances I would definitely have put in time at both events, as indeed many people did. 

But being co-host, along with the GFB crew, of the 260 Grad party, I couldn’t really desert my post on this occasion. However, I’m reliably informed that Savage Wear managed to have a good night without me! 

A sunny afternoon on the Spree

Thursday (30) brought with it a beautiful sunny afternoon that was absolutely perfect for the first of that day’s numerous events: a revival of the GFB Fetish Cruise on the River Spree.

Back in 2015, chilly overcast weather limited enjoyment of the original GFB river cruise.

However, with warm sunshine forecast for this year’s later cruise date, the revived event clearly caught more imaginations, selling out its 90-plus tickets within a couple of days.

KINKING SPREE: Rubber-clad reveller hails a
passing river boat from the GFB Fetish Cruise

The Spree river boats depart from the East Side Gallery dock opposite the new Mercedes Platz development. And this year before departure, there was a riverside group photo shoot for which everyone had been encouraged to dress to impress.

They did not disappoint. And the attention the gathered kinksters attracted from Berlin residents and tourists around the dock was a joy to behold. People treated it like exactly the kind of spectacle you would expect to see in this artistically edgy city.

Once our boat full of kinksters began its voyage, their enthusiastic exhibitionism — cheering, waving and flashing fake boobies — continued to get positive reactions from onlookers on the river banks and passing boats.

In all, the two-hour trip felt like the perfect promotion for our pervy invasion of Berlin!

Disembarking from the boat at around 5pm, the logical thing was to stroll across the road to investigate the facilities in the new Mercedes Platz development that extends from the Mercedes-Benz Arena to the river.