Failing economy, you say? What’s that you say? Judging from the attendance at this year’s Winter Party Festival Pool Party, there seemed to be scant evidence of economic crisis. We’re talking critical mass—and then some. Take all the traffic in New York, and the entire LA freeway system, as well as the DC Beltway—and replace all those cars with beautiful people and you have some idea of how insanely popular this party has become. Let’s face it—we’re talking a fabulous setting, complete with oceanfront views and swaying palms, cabana rooftop viewing platforms, a pool dotted with bobbing mermen, a dance floor packed with Terpsichorean beauty, eye-popping visual décor (in Task Force pink and purple) by wunderkind Kidd Madonny of RKM—and everyone smiling like they’ve discovered the elixir for eternal youth. Can we say over saturation and immediate gratification and pleasure principle all wrapped up into one gorgeous Miami Beach afternoon? Roland Belmares manned the decks with a fiercely intuitive set that utilized a thundering backbeat to complement the abundant sunshine—and served as a persistent reminder as to why we move and shake the booty. Shake it, get down, work it out—all you most beautiful people. This was a party where smiles were the only response. What could you do but shake your head and grin at all this—this tableau of human happiness? For as Rea Carey, Executive Director of the Task Force said, for some Winter Party patrons, the Pool Party and the Beach Party are the ne plus ultra of Winter Party Festival: the outdoor events that put people on planes from as far away as Denmark. And who could fault them for that? In this one enchanting Edenic afternoon, you see friends you haven’t seen for too long, and boys whose beauty dazzles and leaves you slack-jawed, and porn stars and reality stars of the little screen and big, and celebrities from A-list to D-list—and all of this pageantry commingling in the most celebratory fashion—merely for the fact of our being smart enough to stand up for who and what we are. It’s no wonder that tourists on the beachside of the party stand there for hours, videotaping and photographing—and marveling. Maybe they wish they could be as happy as we are. For in the end, that’s what Winter Party Festival and the Task Force celebrate the most: the joys of our LGBT community while working towards its betterment.