About

The Baltic Battle party has taken place every year since 1978. The first one was organized as the official opening of the – at that time – new clubrooms in the Old Town and was a joint venture with MSC Finland. Because our Finnish brothers would travel across the Baltic, the party was named The Battle of the Baltic Sea (in Swedish) with the English translation Baltic Battle added.

From the very first party, it was a big success – a boat trip around the southern neighborhood islands and the main party in the new premises. Tom of Finland was specially invited and showed how his drawings were created, drawings that would later become world famous. MSC Finland brought a jumping leather jack toy as a gift, now framed behind acrylic glass in our current clubhouse.

For Baltic Battle 2, we went big with a joint venture of five Nordic leather clubs. We commissioned our first exclusively designed Baltic Battle poster by Tom of Finland – there would be 10 more during the 80s. The rumor spread and international guests came and kept coming. In 1981, Drummer Magazine – the legendary leather and fetish magazine – wrote that our Baltic Battle is even bigger than the CMC Carnival in San Francisco.

Particularly memorable editions include the main battle in a shipyard dry-dock (1997), at the culture exhibition hall at Euro Pride with 600 participating leather gays (1998), at a shipyard (2000–2002), in a former printing works (2007), and in a former big cinema (2012). Leather history has been written. All of it made possible by the volunteers who engage and work hard, breaking their balls – both literally and practically.