There are some types of parties that are unique to one culture or geographic area. The Fiesta, which is popular in Mexico, is merely imitated elsewhere. Many block parties draw their theme from the traditional Hawaiian party called the Luau. You may think that if you live in Hopewell Junction homes in the United States, you have no unique form of partying to call your own, but you'd be wrong! The tailgate party is an event unique to the United States. Even Canada, which is very similar to the United States in many respects, doesn't have the tailgating subculture. If you're not familiar with tailgate parties, we'll explain them here.

The name "tailgate party" comes from the fact that these parties are most often hosted in parking lots by lowering the tailgates of pickup trucks and laying them with food and alcohol. The parties aren't linked with pickup trucks per say - plenty of people with sedans, SUVs, or no cars at all participate in tailgate parties too - except in that the pickup truck is the staple American vehicle. Even you, who live in a Toronto condo, have one, and you've never loaded it with anything larger than a friend's sofa.

Tailgate parties are almost exclusively connected to sporting events. Prior to the game, fans will congregate in the parking lot of the field or arena for a tailgate party. They are almost never pre-organized like a corporate event planning Toronto event. Rather, they are impromptu and tend to involve anyone who shows up. Participants at a tailgate party (known as tailgaters) have three goals: first, to generate excitement for the upcoming game. Second, to fill themselves up with food before the game so they don't have to pay steep concessions prices. And third, to drink.

This isn't the sort of party where a Toronto caterer's services would be used. Tailgaters each bring some sort of contribution to party, making it almost like a potluck. One tailgater might bring a propane barbecue grill and a few boxes of hamburgers. Another might bring a cooler full of sodas. A third might show up with a few cases of beer. The next might bring the equipment necessary to play a law game like cornhole or ladder golf. When they all get together, it's almost like a fair.

Tailgate parties are common before high school, college, and professional sports games and are more likely too occur in the warmer southern states. Sometimes Food PR companies and advertisers will organize tailgate parties to promote their products, or will simply capitalize on existing ones by showing up in a company vehicle and handing out samples. If you're not an American and you're looking for a different type of party to host, why not consider a tailgate party?