GUERRILLA MASQUERADE PARTY SEATTLE began in 2003. The founder, Dan Garlington, was inspired by his first trip to Burning Man in 2002, and by a visit to San Francisco where he took part in Guerrilla Queer Bar. (Burning Man is 2 parts arts festival, 1 part survivalist camp, with a liberal sprinkling of cacophony, and GQB is an event where Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered people gather at bars that don't cater traditionally to an LGBT clientele.) Back home in Seattle, Dan sat down and talked with his friend Michael about his experiences, and the idea of doing costumed bar take overs was born. With encouragement from his friends Mark, Paula and others, Dan set out to create something new, and liven up Seattle's nightlife. His goals were to give people an opportunity to be creative and be recognized for that creativity, to be all inclusive and welcoming, and to have a great time doing it.

Dan set up a web site, an email list, and even a phone line to help people find out about the parties. In January 2003, Dan and a few friends, armed with some hand made flyers and wearing a bizarre mix of costumes, headed out to promote GMP at EMP's Liquid Lounge -- and had a great time. The following month, he threw the first official event, 'Donkey Kong & Martinis'. The party had no official theme, resulting in a mix of costumes ranging from a Luche Libre to a Vegas showgirl. And it was at this party that Dan's alter ego, Dirty Bunny, was born. He wore an off-the-rack bunny suit that his friend Paula bought for him, and for no particular reason he painted Xs on his eyes. Someone, at some point in the evening, said he was a dirty bunny, and the name stuck.

Through the rest of 2003, Dirty Bunny organized 9 more monthly parties (excluding June). In April, Seattle's 'alternative weekly' newspaper, The Stranger, featured the GMP 'Birds & the Bees' party in their 'Stranger Suggests' column, which caused a big surge in membership. It was clear he was on to something. But in May, a particularly low turnout for the 'Let's Get Physical' event almost doomed GMP. Dirty Bunny wondered if perhaps it was a flash in the pan, and he took June off. Thankfully, he tried again in July, with the theme 'Cirque de Folie'. The circus theme drew the biggest crowd yet, and was the first time GMP was graced with the members of the Temple of Necronomiclown and the Kook Club - two local clown troupes. That night was a crazy good time, and reassured Dirty Bunny that he was on to something. It also sparked an offshoot in Minneapolis, as a couple people visiting Seattle took the concept home with them and threw a couple events. For the rest of the year, Dirty Bunny threw monthly events, drawing big crowds and AMAZING costumes. In October, Dirty Bunny hit the catwalk with his friend Mark for a fashion show, and in November, the now very dirty Dirty Bunny got a makeover, as Dan sewed his first homemade bunny suit and premiered it at the November party. Then, the year ended with the Sleazy Santas party, which was filmed for a short documentary about GMP - and was where Dirty Bunny became friends with photographer Steven Miller, leading to some great photos over the following years.

In 2004, the parties kept getting bigger, as word about GMP spread. Newspaper articles, blogs, and another Stranger Suggests drove membership and participation threw the roof - resulting in lines out the door at some parties. In March, Dirty Bunny did a decidedly G-Rated interview with drag queen extraordinaire, Sylvia O'Stayformore on a very X-rated web site. The documentary by Play Nice Productions premiered in May at the 'Hooray for Hollyweird' party, and was shown at a Seattle Film Festival in October. In June, GMP joined forces with Male Bonding Experiment and their organizer Dan D (who Dan G later married), and marched in the LGBT Pride Parade with a truck decorated like a giant bunny (thanks to Paul), handing out professional flyers, fun masks and rubber beehive wigs donated by Archie McPhee. And at the end of the year, Dirty Bunny and a bunch of GMP regulars took part in Seattle's Santarchy for the first time ever - dressing up in Santa suits and reindeer costumes and spending a whole day wandering about Seattle with a crowd of hundreds of Santas, suprising people, stopping into bars, singing carols, and generally having a great time. Santarchy introduced Dirty Bunny to the Seattle Cacophony society, and folks like Ivan, who were organizing other costume events in Seattle for years, like Bunnarchy (an all bunny costume party) and Brides of March (men and women in wedding dresses hitting the town).

2005 kicked off with the first ever Karaoke GMP - Monsters of Rock. Featuring rock stars alive and dead, and a few monsters thrown in for good measure, all belting out their favorite tunes. In June, GMP regular and costume genius Marshall organized a group of GMP regulars into a rag tag group of dust bunnies, and we rolled a giant dust ball through the streets of Fremont for the Solstice Parade. After two more successful parties in the fall, Dirty Bunny met another costume fanatic, Cleo, who began putting together Zombie Walks in Seattle. Drawing huge crowds dressed up as the undead, they showed that people young and old were still hungry for opportunities to dress up in costumes. It was also that year that Dirty Bunny found himself interviewed by the Seattle Times, KOMO Radio and KNDD's morning show 'The Morning Alternative'. Through that exposure, and the always helpful plugs by the Party Volcano mailing list, GMP grew and grew. And again, GMP rounded out the year by taking part in Santarchy.

GMP's fourth year started in January with the Outlawed party in Fremont - something of an homage to another GMP inspiration: the outlaw parties thrown by club kids like Michael Alig in the late 1980s. This was followed by a Tropical themed karaoke night in March - where Dirty Bunny made the acquaintance of PartyPalooza organizer, Suz Fabulous, who became a regular at GMP events, and an inspiring friend. We decorated the bar with flower garlands and blow up palm trees, and Tulse blew us all away with his working volcano hat. In April, Portland, Oregon became the third GMP city thanks to Patrick, a GMP Seattle mainstay who moved to PDX. So Dirty Bunny and several GMP Seattle regulars headed down to help GMP PDX start things off at their Saints and Sinners party. That same month, GMP Las Vegas announced their first event, organized by another former Seattlite - Trixie. 2006 included some of the best GMP events ever, including an all light up party captured on film brilliantly by photographer Dave Matthews, a Summer toga party, and the Happy Birthday to Who? event, inspired by NYC's ImprovEverywhere, where we threw a birthday party (complete with strippers, clowns, magicians, and lots of gifts) for an unsuspecting fellow who just happened to walk through the door of the bar at the wrong (or maybe right) time. It was also the year that Seattle Magazine did an interview with Dirty Bunny, including a great photo by Bebet Caguin, and Seattle Metropolitan Magazine included Dirty Bunny as a guest in their hypothetical 'perfect party' column.

In 2007, the Animal Farm event drew big crowds - including The Stranger's 'Party Crasher', resulting in a short column about the party in the paper. It was at that party that Dirty Bunny was given the suggestion to throw another Space themed party, resulting in Science Fiction, Double Feature the next month. Two more parties rounded out the year, with the September Pirate party being something of a welcome to the neighborhood for Dirty Bunny - and was when he met the Seattle Urban Golf organizers, Divide and Jacqueline, in person. It was also the party that almost didn't happen. When Dirty Bunny walked up to the bar, he found a sea of Pirates waiting outside, having been told they couldn't go in. Things got worked out, and (after everyone payed a $5 cover) the party was on.

2008's events started in February, when GMP joined up with a crew including the infamous artists SuttonBeresCuller to celebrate Abe Lincoln's birthday by dressing as the dead president and going on a bar crawl. Just a few days later, GMP invaded the Sunset Bowl in Ballard dressed as world leaders, making it the 13th GMP location to be closed or (in this case) demolished. And in July, eight dedicated Guerrillas (as the GMP party goers had come to be called), rocked out at the Baronof in Greenwood - holding a benefit for Northwest harvest with their foodie theme, Bite Me.

And now, after 33 parties in 5 years; after invading 45 bars, 5 private parties, 4 restaurants, 2 parades, 1 park, 1 theater, and 1 bowling alley; after events on Beacon Hill, Capitol Hill, SoDo, Ballard, Fremont, Greenwood, Queen Anne, Downtown, Belltown, the Central District, Pioneer Square, First Hill, and Eastlake; after 8 bunny suits in white, green, blue, orange, grey, light up, and camoflauge - plus a panda suit; after 11 newspaper articles, 3 magazine articles and one cover, 2 radio interviews, and a web interview on a porn site; after over 1000 subscribers to the mailing list; after 3 (almost 4) other cities starting GMP's of their own; after many wildly successful parties and a few duds; after collecting an entire room of costumes and ton of memories; and after meeting hundreds of people - many of whom have become close friends - Dirty Bunny is going to retire to explore new passions and new ideas. Maybe you'll hear from him again someday, but for now he thanks each and every one of you for making Guerrilla Masquerade Party such an amazing experience. It was all of you that made GMP what it was. Without all your creativity, enthusiasm, and commitment, GMP would've been a very lonely guy in a bunny suit, alone at a bar, and would never have been so successful. Letting go of GMP is one of the hardest things Dirty Bunny has ever done, and he's spent a long time, and a shed a lot of tears making the decision. It feels like it's time to start a new chapter, but he thanks you all for some of the best nights of his life.

Dirty Bunny encourages you all to get out there and create art, dress in costumes, and go outside. He recommends that you stay tuned in to costume events in Seattle and around the world through the Seattle Cacophony Society, Costume Meetup, BCWA-Events, Burning Man BCWA, Party Volcano, Laughing Squid, Urban Prankster, and Upcoming.org. Take part in and support Support local cacophonist and costume events like Santarchy, Zombie Marches, Brides of March, Seattle Urban Golf, Seattle Pillow Fight Club, the annual Abe Lincoln Birthday Bar Crawl, Renaissance Fantasy Faire, PartyPaloozaNW, the Fremont Solstice Parade, Winter Pineapple Classic, Power Tool Racing, Kinetic Sculpture Races, Olympia's Procession of Species, the Urban Idiotarod, Seafair's Milk Carton Derby, and Bunnarchy. (Man, there's a lot of crazy events in Seattle!) And if you have the means, he highly recomments checking out Burning Man, the WASH Festival, or Oregon Country Fair. And don't be afraid to start your own events. It only take an idea, a few people, and a blog or Myspace page for something to grow rapidly into an institution. We look forward to seeing what you come up with.