Black tie for Summer Ball
Sit-down formal dinner back on the menu for this year’s event
In a paper brought to Imperial College Union Council last Monday (February 13) Deputy President (Finance & Services) Michael Foster outlined plans for this year’s Summer Ball, which will see the return of black-tie and a formal dinner.
The event, to be held one week later than usual on Saturday 23 June, is currently planned to begin at 5:30pm with a formal sit-down dinner held in the Queen’s Tower Rooms. The capacity for this will be 350 people. Menus and prices have yet to be confirmed. In order to make the dinner viable, there will be a minimum attendance figure. If this figure is not reached by a yet-to-be confirmed date, the dinner will be cancelled and refunds will be provided to those affected.
Though entertainment is also yet to be confirmed, it is expected that acts will be spread across the Queen’s Lawn Stage and the Great Hall, with one headline act performing on each, accompanied by support from bands and DJs. Entertainment will run from 8pm until midnight and tickets will be priced between £25 and £30 pending further budget analysis.
It is currently planned for one cash bar to be located in each venue, but should the number of tickets sold approach 1,500, a cashless system will be considered.
The fairground also makes a return, alongside fireworks and the after-party (priced between £5 and £7), which will begin at 11pm in the Union building, finishing at 5am.
In the passed paper (calling for Council to agree to the general plan for the event) Foster writes that the goal for this year’s event is to be “fun and affordable”. The preliminary budget has been approved by the Union’s Executive Committee and a “Summer Ball Forum” will be organised to receive feedback from the student body.
Speaking at the Council meeting, Foster confirmed that this year’s Ball would see “a return to the style of 2010 and earlier” while maintaining a “very conservative and low-risk budget”. This follows last year’s Summer Ball, which broke from tradition and took the format of an all-day festival. The event saw approximately 1,500 tickets sold, after a projected attendance of 3,850, and saw an approximate loss of £100,000.
