Boozembly

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The Boozembly hills in 2005

Boozembly is the officially unofficial tailgate party of the Assembly demo party held annually each summer in Helsinki, Finland.

This "disorganized" event was initiated in 1995 in response to alcoholic beverages of any sort being absolutely prohibited anywhere on the grounds of the Assembly party place. It is a running joke that the people behind organizing Boozembly are "disorganizers", since this event is completely unaffiliated with Assembly and its organizers.

What had began as small group of demosceners sharing (and in some cases, re-selling) a few beers has since ballooned into a massive social event gathering hundreds of people, taking place near the Hartwall Areena. The location of Boozembly is largely dependent upon where Assembly is held, but has taken place from 1999 in a wooded area of rocks across the street from the arena alongside railway tracks. (Ironically the other side of the railway tracks is occupied by a police station.) The area was scouted and decided upon by Boozembly Disorganizing, as Assembly moved to Hartwall Arena. The Boozembly Disorganizing has since continued to keep loose care of the event, for example building a brick grill at the location. The core demoscene members gathered around the grill to separate themselves from the other 'normal' people participating in the 'event'. The grill was demolished in a ceremony by Boozembly Disorganizing at the last night of Boozembly 2006, as the location was to be demolished next week, with a new highway or bridge replacing the scene partyplace.

It is rather vague who the original founders of Boozembly were, but these nine people are generally credited in the initial "Boozembly Disorganizing":

DDT / Accession
Grendel / Byterapers
Jmagic / Complex
Jugi / Complex
Moku / Accession
Reward / Complex
Irwin / Damones
Rotsi / Damones
Vesku / Damones

Later Sivu / Byterapers has been active member of the Boozembly Disorganizing.

[edit] Today

At present, Boozembly is the preferred place for sceners to unwind a bit from the non-stop action of Assembly, get some fresh air, and enjoy a choice beverage of sorts. The Finnish people are very fond of black liquorice flavored candies and beverages, and one increasingly popular alcoholic drink in the demoscene is Salmiakki Koskenkorva (Salmiakkikossu for short), a salty and sweet liquorice drink which may be purchased in liquor stores or homemade by dissolving finely-crushed zalmiak candies in a bottle of vodka.

Although this is not an officially sanctioned event by the Assembly organization, Assembly security guards tend to visit Boozembly periodically as a safety precaution.

Peak attendance at Boozembly 2004 was said to be approximately 250 people.

[edit] Trivia

Founders of Boozembly have since gone on to accomplish great things. One Boozembly founder later went on to create Remedy Entertainment, the game development company responsible for producing Max Payne.
The Damones' car "Damowarre" was the official Boozembly car for a long time, especially at the first ever Boozembly. Damowarre was known for its unusual outlook, loud music and endless supply of beer on sale on the trunk.