When the first Europerve party was held in Amsterdam in 1991, the Dutch fetish scene was still very small and gatherings were mostly underground.

Customers from all over the world who bought their latex at DeMask (the first rubber store in Amsterdam, which had opened a year earlier) wondered where they could go out in Amsterdam. They were looking for a place where they could play, socialise and parade with their new rubber outfits.

It seemed evident that there wasn’t anything, and this was a good reason for DeMask to launch Europerve — a party for fetishists.

In those early days of the scene, it was something completely new, and people came from all over the world — from Germany, England, Japan, Australia, America and so on. People were curious and excited.

Those fetish “explorers” formed the foundation of Europerve. The public made the party. And an extravagant bunch it was. People were creative and outrageous in their outfits. And the atmosphere was trustworthy as well as thrilling.

I remember that we all looked at each other, curious about what everybody was wearing. We made each other compliments, all these people who spoke different languages. It was a precious phenomenon.

All these wonderful creatures, dressed in latex and leather, looking fierce or seductive, and still being totally understanding towards each other.

It was in 1991 that the first Europerve party was held in the heart of Amsterdam in an unusual venue: the old Amsterdam zoo: Artis. This first party was actually co-hosted by London’s Skin Two organisation, and was advertised as celebrating the first year of DeMask and Issue 11 of Skin Two magazine.

Later that same year, the event achieved notoriety in a front-page exposé by the (now defunct) Sunday tabloid News of the World.

Among the party guests had been Marina Mowatt (née Ogilvy), a friend and customer of DeMask founder Steve English and, at that time, 27th in line to the English throne.

Skin Two pictures of Marina and Steve at the party were lifted by the newspaper to run with its front page headline: Royal at Rubber Orgy!

This ensured great interest in the following year’s Europerve and helped set it on its way as one of the most important events in the international fetish calendar for many years. It ran annually at various different venues around Amsterdam until 2004.

Since August last year, DeMask has been under new ownership, following the sale of the business by Steve English to old friends and colleagues Anton and Louva. And the new owners think now is exactly the right time to get Europerve back on track in the city where it all began.

‘We want to get the feeling back we all loved in the ’90s. A strict rubber, leather and uniforms dresscode will ensure the proper crowd’ 

Anton explains: “Even though there is an overkill in kinky dance parties, a genuine fetish play party is hard to find nowadays. That is why we want to offer an authentic underground play party to the people who can appreciate this.  

“And so we came to the idea of resurrecting Europerve. We want to get the feeling back that we all cherished and loved in the ’90s. A very strict dresscode of only rubber, leather and uniforms will ensure that we get the proper fetish crowd.

“A nice detail is that when you are dressed up as an animal in rubber or leather, your entrance to the party will be free. Of course we will have our traditional DeMask fashion show, just like in the old days, but in a different form.”

The initial date for the new EuroPerve (now restyled with a capital P) was May this year, but it turned out to be extremely difficult to find the right location. Anton and Louva really wanted a venue right in the city of Amsterdam, and ended up having to postpone the party until September 29.

But they are completely satisfied since finding the perfect location for EuroPerve in the heart of the old town, at COC Amsterdam, Rozenstraat 14, close to where Rozengracht crosses Prinsengracht, and near Westermarkt tram stop.

They also chose not to be too fanatical, initially, about promoting the event, preferring to leave something to the imagination of the in-crowd. Why?

“We noticed that Europerve still has a magic reputation. When the word came out, everybody started talking about EuroPerve — the original crowd, as well as the new people in the scene.

“But now, we are quite busy with the promotion of the party. We did interviews and articles for several magazines, such as Heavy Rubber, Marquis, Massad and the Dutch Nieuwe Revue, as well as online magazines.

“We launched a website, sent out mailings, and started ticket sales, online as well as in selected presale addresses.

“We have some good ideas but we are not experienced party organisers, which is why we decided to collaborate with Vault Events, since they are the absolute party experts. They are the organisers of — among others — Wasteland, the largest fetish party in the Netherlands.

“But we have to emphasise that our event has no intention of becoming the next Wasteland. Both we and Vault Events are committed to the original concept of EuroPerve”.

If you are into a rubber and leather extravaganza; if you crave the underground fetish scene Amsterdam was once famous for; if you are searching for a true fetish party where you can be a voyeur or an exhibitionist: EuroPerve will be the perfect party for you.

Are you excited yet? Then come to Amsterdam at the end of September and find out what Europerve Resurrection is all about.

‘We have no intention of our party becoming the next Wasteland. We and Vault Events are committed to the original EuroPerve concept’