Whether you’re coupled up, going out with the gals or guys, or celebrating being single this Valentine’s Day, you can enjoy a little bit of late-night spice courtesy of Peterborough AIDS Resource Network (PARN).
From 7 p.m. until midnight on Saturday (February 14), the organization will be hosting the Electric City Sex & Wellness Expo at the Healthy Planet Arena in Peterborough.
Hosted in partnership with Lynda’s Love Lace & Lingerie, the pay-what-you-can event is oriented towards adults interested in sexual health and wellness.
“Being a community service organization, we’ve been doing a lot of great stuff for a long time, so this is a great opportunity for the organization to show it’s evolved and connect with the broader audience on the matters that matter for folks today,” says PARN executive director Dane Record. “It’s about getting back out to the community to have some really engaging conversations, but conversations in a far different style than folks may be accustomed to.”
Record says bringing sex-positive spaces to the community is “vital” in today’s landscape, given the amount of information — and misinformation — people of all ages have access to.
“With tech being what it is, and we can’t shy away from AI, we want to make sure that when folks are coming through and connecting with PARN and other events and folks, they’re receiving the factual information, the updates, and (are learning) what’s actually going on in regard to sexual health, and just being able to have a happy and healthy sexual experience,” he says.
The theme of the Electric City Sex & Wellness Expo is “Love Positive Women,” a campaign from the Women and HIV/AIDS Initiative (WHAI) which collaborates with PARN and other organizations to supports cis and trans women, two-spirit, and non-binary people in Ontario. The campaign happens every year between February 1 and 14 to raise awareness about women and girls living with HIV.
“While there’s been a great amount of tech and tool updates, there’s still no cure (for HIV),” Record says. “Even though it’s far more manageable today that it was when the organization started back in 1990, there is an impact without being on treatment, being able to achieve a suppressed viral load, and continuing with activities and behaviours that may pose a vulnerable risk.”
“We want to make sure that folks are able to be informed and continue doing what they’re doing safely.”
At the expo, there will be vendor booths allowing drop-in visitors to browse and purchase toys, lingerie, and other intimacy, self-care, and wellness products. There will be expert-led workshops and opportunities to learn from and connect with community organizations including PARN, Nurse Acceptance, the Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre, and more.
“The important thing is that the patrons coming in are coming in with a curiosity, and they’re coming out learning even one other piece of information that they can utilize for themselves and also share with their respective community,” says Record.
Record promises the expo will be one full of “edutainment,” including a DJ spinning through the night, performers, and education sessions with “real and raw conversations.”
“Folks can come in, learn a thing or two about who we are and what we do, but more so they will be in a healthier, common, fun, sex-positive space where they can actually and absolutely be themselves and be authentic in their own skin and their own space,” Record says.
Though La Mesita will be on site cooking up tacos, Record assures there will be no alcohol served or sold at the expo.
“We just want folks to feel welcome all the way through,” he says. “One doesn’t need to be inebriated to have a good time. It’s also a prime opportunity to remove a potential trigger in doing this type of work.”
Hoping to make the event a recurring one, Record says PARN is already underway planning for 2027 and hopes to receive lots of feedback following this year’s event.
“We want the community to feel meaningfully included and highly valuable, and we want them to let us know what they want. Any way that we can involve the broader community, we are all for it.” he says. “And when we can partner with other organizations to lift all the boats, it means that we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing as a community. So, we’re looking forward and certainly looking ahead.”
