Blake Ward's High Fantasy Dance Nights Fulfill the Promise of Escapism

Dress codes are a funny thing: Their existence brings people in and keeps others out. Depending on the venue, the kind of event and the location, they’re often a tool of exclusion designed to keep a particular kind of person away. At High Fantasy Nights, however, the dress code isn’t about turning away the underdressed masses in baseball caps and sneakers — it’s about making sure the right people are stepping into a world of escapism, fantasy and revelry.

DJ Blake Ward is no stranger to the ever-changing and highly varied world of clubs and music venues. He has been playing in Dallas for over 20 years, amassing a wealth of experience and a clear preference for the crowds he plays for. But beyond the music, there’s one thing always on his mind: curating the right kind of energy and filtering out those who just want to use the club environment for their own hedonistic reasons.

“I wanted to create a party where random frat dudes wouldn’t show up and grope people and spend all night in the bathroom doing blow,” Ward says. “I figured that if you had costumes on, people would show up because they wanted to be there, right?”

So far, his experiment has seemed to work. We’re well beyond October, far removed from any semblance of Halloween, and yet a few stories up at the Foundation Room, an entire crowd has donned capes, robes, pointed teeth, and faint trails of black-cherry-colored blood. It’s Theatre des Vampires, the latest installment of High Fantasy, and the energy is far from your typical Saturday night club scene. Ward’s events have evolved from Disco Texas — his previous party series that dabbled in multiple themes — into a fully committed medieval fantasy realm, and people are really dressing the part.

“There are people who straight up make their own chainmail,” Ward says. “Can you imagine the time that takes?”

Some attendees are literal professionals. One guest designs spacesuits for astronauts by day and crafts intricate, period-accurate costumes by night. But even the so-called amateurs are bringing their A-game, thanks to 3D printing, advanced sewing techniques and an internet bubbling over with DIY enthusiasts. The result? Something like a Renaissance fair crossed with a rave, filled with acres of leather, feathers, faux blood and an overwhelmingly positive energy from the crowd.

Being in the DJ and music scene for over 20 years, Ward has seen more than his share of miscreants attempting to turn the camaraderie of a fun night out into something much more hedonistic. But the proverbial obnoxious frat-guy kryptonite has been discovered — and countered — by Ward: Make the party so undeniably, authentically, and unashamedly “nerdy” that anyone looking for a trendy nightclub to crash would self-select out.

“You cannot come to a party like this and not be there to enjoy it,” Ward says. A party is only as good as its soundtrack, and Ward knows exactly how to walk the line between playing to theme and keeping the energy high. His DJ sets blend fantasy-inspired elements with classic dance tracks, TikTok favorites and thematic genre dips.

“This one’s a vampire theme party, so we’re gonna lean into Goth music quite a bit more,” he says.

Beyond just DJing, Ward is bringing fantasy themes into his production work, collaborating with Ginny Di — one of the biggest D&D content creators — on a remix of “Soldier, Poet, King,” a song that’s been huge on TikTok for fantasy transformations.

Beyond the music and the elaborate costumes, the real magic of High Fantasy is the community it fosters.

“This is not just like your run-of-the-mill Dallas site that you would see at a lot of other places,” Ward says. “It’s a community that’s really based in what the world could, and should, be a lot of the time.”

With LGBTQ+ rights under constant threat, spaces like High Fantasy provide an oasis of safety, inclusion and genuine joy. It’s a queer-friendly, consent-driven and deeply inclusive environment — one where people come for the right reasons and feel like they truly belong. This isn’t just about fantasy or costumes — it’s about crafting an experience that’s as much about kindness as it is about escapism.

Though High Fantasy thrives in Dallas, its reach extends far beyond it.

“We’ve performed for 2,000 people at Ren fairs,” Ward says. “We performed the party in Indianapolis with 30 people from Dallas for like 900 people at a Dungeons & Dragons convention.”

The next installment of High Fantasy will happen on May and the theme will be "Fire in the Shire." No matter where it lands, Ward is confident that the community will remain just as passionate, just as welcoming and just as decked out in armor, robes and flowing capes. Because in a world that feels increasingly dystopian, sometimes the best thing you can do is step into a different reality — one filled with wonder, revelry and a damn good soundtrack.