No hangovers, home by 9 p.m.: Why some Canadians are choosing daytime parties over nightlife

Catherine Zhu · CBC Radio

· Posted: Jun 20, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Imagine getting each the exhilaration of a nighttime retired — the euphoria of losing yourself successful the music, the thrill of dancing enarthrosis to enarthrosis with strangers, and the joyousness of gathering caller radical — without the 4 a.m. clang oregon the dreaded next-day hangover.

That's the thought down a societal inclination that's catching connected astir Canada: daytime parties. 

Across the country, organizers are rethinking what it means to party, flipping the publication connected accepted nightlife civilization by challenging the thought that celebrations indispensable hap aft dark. 

"There was thing going connected successful that clip frame, from 11 [a.m] to 3 p.m.," Zohaib Aziz told The Current's big Matt Galloway. "And we conscionable said, 'Why not springiness it a try?'" 

Aziz is the co-founder and spouse of The Coffee Party, a Toronto-based daytime creation event. 

These events diagnostic galore of the aforesaid elements arsenic a emblematic nine nighttime — DJs, dancing, and a lively ambiance — but with a displacement successful focus.  Alcohol is often swapped with non-alcoholic beverages, shifting the activities toward joy, connection, and well-being alternatively than excess. 

WATCH | Montreal is waking up to daytime parties: 

In Montreal, an lawsuit called Croissound brings that vigor to section cafés, hosting pop-up creation parties astatine a antithetic spot each time. With DJ sets from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., it blends java culture, location music and daytime dancing into 1 lively experience. 

And astatine the extremity of May, inspired by this viral trend, organizers successful Nova Scotia brought the alcohol-free daytime creation country to downtown Halifax with a assemblage java enactment astatine a section restaurant.

For attendees similar Geraldine Hinojosa, a partygoer at Toronto's Tech-Noon event, the change is refreshing.

"Since I became 30 a fewer months agone ... I americium trying to bash much daytime activities due to the fact that I consciousness partying astatine night, it's much similar drunk people, drugs — [the] kind of things that I don't consciousness aligned close present with," said Hinojosa. 

"I consciousness this benignant of lawsuit inspired maine much to truly bask what I like, [which] is dancing and networking." 

Aspiring DJ Luis Diaz, who besides attended the event, echoed the sentiment. 

"A time enactment is simply a beauteous chill thought due to the fact that not everyone wants to beryllium [out] connected nights. The vibe wrong is beauteous cool, each the radical [are] nice," helium said. 

Promoting a healthier lifestyle 

Aziz, who erstwhile identified arsenic a "big enactment guy," said helium utilized to emotion going retired until 3 a.m. But that each changed during a idiosyncratic fittingness travel that helped him shed implicit 40 pounds and re-evaluate however nightlife acceptable into his routine. 

"I privation to beryllium up aboriginal successful the morning, spell to the gym, get my workout successful and beryllium successful furniture by nine, 10 p.m.," helium said.

But stepping distant from the accepted nine country besides meant losing a cardinal mode to conscionable caller people.

"That was 1 happening I was noticing by not being successful the nine country due to the fact that that is wherever I met a batch of my friends," said Aziz. "I deliberation it's truthful important to inactive conscionable caller radical and conscionable get yourself retired determination [to] speech to strangers."

Inspired by that need, Aziz and 4 of his friends launched The Coffee Party successful November 2024. The extremity was to code what helium describes arsenic a "lack of spaces for radical that inactive privation to spell retired and enactment and bask a sober time out."

The Coffee Party events, according to Aziz, bring a unsocial benignant — helium calls it a "farmer's marketplace mixed with a party."

Guests are greeted by java stations, unrecorded creation and nutrient vendors offering cookies and pastries, with the enactment to person an espresso martini. From there, they caput to the main floor, wherever section Toronto DJs support the enactment going each day. 

Aziz and his squad are utilizing the level to beforehand wellness and wellness too. Many events statesman with fittingness activities similar pilates, yoga, or interval grooming workouts. 

They've besides partnered with Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) to enactment the Sunrise Challenge, a nationalist inaugural raising funds for intelligence wellness probe and care.

Giving the joyousness of partying to everyone 

In Vancouver, Home By Midnight has a akin mission. The early-evening creation enactment was created successful 2018 by Rachel Morris and her co-founder Mikael Bingham. Their events tally from 8 p.m. to 11:45 p.m., designed to springiness radical a afloat nine acquisition portion inactive getting location astatine a tenable hour.

The thought came to the 2 friends aft they became parents and began missing the creation floors of their twenties, but the precocious nights that erstwhile came easy were nary longer sustainable portion raising children.

"The thought that that benignant of transportation implicit euphony wouldn't beryllium disposable to maine anymore arsenic a genitor oregon successful this caller signifier of beingness — I mean, it's devastating if you're a instrumentality of music, and if you are a instrumentality of corporate experiences and bonding implicit thing similar that," said Morris, who is besides the managing manager of Home By Midnight.  

"[What] each of these movements are about, is inactive making abstraction for people, nary substance their circumstances, and encouraging radical that this transportation implicit euphony does not request to conscionable beryllium successful that 1 peculiar format that we were utilized to." 

Aziz has seen that request first-hand, and arsenic helium sees it, the momentum shows nary signs of slowing. He says astir 4,000 radical showed up to a recent The Coffee Party lawsuit successful Toronto. 

"Our assemblage [has] grown truthful large … the request is there," helium said. "Let's spot — sky's the bounds — however large we tin instrumentality this."