I recently attended Friday Night Live at the ROM for the first time on a recent Friday evening. That particular Friday evening the theme was "Fashion", every night there is a different theme. It's an interesting concept of bringing nightlife to the ROM and at the same time get the younger generation interested in the ROM again.
We bought early bird tickets online at $15 a ticket which guarantees you admission before 8 pm, after 8 pm all entrance is based off capacity. It's better to buy early bird tickets because you are guaranteed entrance before 8 pm and the lineup is shorter, keep in mind the event only runs from 7-11 pm, so you don't want to be stuck in line most of the night waiting to buy a ticket at the door.
Once we got in, we bought something called ROM bucks which were $6 each and are used to buy alcoholic drinks and food. A limit of 4 alcohol tickets were allowed to be bought per person. The bucks are non refundable, so it's probably best to not overbuy but keep in mind that as the night goes on, the lineup gets pretty long to buy ROM bucks.
Different exhibit areas are open but not the whole museum and you are allowed to bring in alcoholic drinks into most exhibit areas but not all. It was pretty cool seeing exhibits and having a few alcoholic drinks.
The music was decent, local DJs playing a lot of top 40 music and some live music performances. The main floor was the busiest area with a dance floor and where most people were hanging out. The crowd was mixed ranging from university students to young professionals but definitely a more mature crowd.
I'm a fan of Friday Night Live at the ROM, it's not your typical nightclub where people are popping bottles and getting smashed and partying hard and keep in mind that the event ends at 11 pm when most people are starting to hit up Toronto nightlife. If you are looking for a more reserved party with a more mature crowd and a focus on culture and museum exhibits, then Friday Night Live at the ROM is something you should check out.