Saturday night the masses swarmed out and poured onto Lower College Lawn for the annual David-Russell Apartments/Fife Park sponsored ball. We review it below.
The largest hall ball commenced Saturday evening and dribbled into the early hours of Sunday morning, a night full of ice cream, dancing, and general alcohol-induced debauchery. The DRAFP Ball Committee threw their annual ball with the theme of “A Venetian Night,” handing out Venetian masks upon ticket collections and decorating the venue with gondolas, Italian-inspired architecture, and elaborately dressed masqueraders.
Arriving comfortably late, I walked into the venue clutching the hands of my friends mostly for warmth but also for the insurance that we wouldn’t lose each other the second we walked in. Immediately we headed for the free Jannetta’s ice cream. While the ice cream queue was rather long, even two hours after first opening, we were easily entertained by the various volunteer masqueraders running about in full Venetian garb posing for pictures with guests and the photo opportunities we found in the form of the gondolas and photo booth scattered across the back of the tent. Finally reaching the front of the queue, we got our ice cream and began exploring the rest of the venue. Bars set up on either side of the venue made queuing and buying drinks easy and accessible for guests who could dance in between as they drifted from bar to bar.
Attendees pulled out their most creative outfits, some guests tried to work with the theme, incorporating the glitter and floral designs from their Venetian masks. The ladies were clad mostly in dresses, but some girls chose to break out of the standard garb and wore trousers and crop tops or added trainers to their dresses and skirts. Most men went with the traditional black tie look with occasional pops of colour seen in bowties, trousers, and kilts.
The DRAFP Committee went all out with the musical lineup which featured 99 Souls and Kideko, before the closest thing St. Andrews will ever get to a celebrity guest, Nick Grimshaw, came on at midnight and put on a grand show for guests who were caught dancing til the early hours of the morning.
Overall, I would call the ball a huge success. Attendees pulled out their best attire, the DRAFP Committtee executed the theme well, and guests seemed to enjoy themselves drinking, dancing, and partying the night away.