Will Higgins

will.higgins@indystar.com

There'll be thousands of parties this weekend celebrating freedom. Most will involve fireworks.

But one soiree will take a different tack: The Red, Black and Blue Ball will celebrate bondage, even servitude (and presumably will involve fireworks of a different nature).

The private event, Saturday at a Westside motel, is hosted by a group of S&M enthusiasts called IMAS, which stands for "Indiana Masters and Slaves/submissives/switches."

It has more rules than your average Fourth-of-July party. Here are some of the do's and don'ts, taken from the event website, www.imas-bdsm.com:

Dungeon Rules and Etiquette

• No bare behinds on the chairs. Please bring a towel to put a barrier between yourself and the seat.

• Be consensual. NO means NO, and just because it is exposed doesn't mean you can touch it.

• "RED" and "SAFE WORD" will be recognized by all party guests. When a gag or hood is used, a safe signal MUST be arranged with the DMs (Dungeon Monitors) on duty.

• Sign up sheets are provided for the dungeon stations. Watch for your turn and limit your use to 1 hour per station including clean up.

• Participants use any of the equipment provided at their own risk.

Respect any scenes in progress:

• Do not touch another person or enter a scene in progress without permission.

• Avoid loud conversation in the vicinity of scenes in progress.

• Do not carry on conversations or ask questions of people involved in scenes. Most will be happy to discuss the scene after an appropriate interval, but be sure to allow them time for rest and recovery.

• Report any equipment problems. We need your help in keeping the Dungeon and Party Areas Safe!

• No fire-related play of any kind is permitted in the Dungeon area.

• No irritants such as pepper spray and/or mace.

• Don't take risks. Play only to the level and experience of yourself and your partner.

Contact Star reporter Will Higgins at (317) 444-6043. Follow him on Twitter @WillRHiggins.