So: your exams are over, your coursework’s over and for some, university itself may be over for good. All that beckons is a few weeks of celebrating before the big bad world of work begins, or an endless summer toiling behind the counter at W. H. Smith’s. So what is there to look forward to before then? Ah yes. The Summer Ball.
But what is the Summer Ball? I’ve heard it described as everything from an evening of class and splendour spent with a loved one and/or very close friends to “a piss-up with a bunch of mates”. It’s a difficult opposition to synthesise, and it creates further contradictions: romantic intimacy vs. drunk people; dinner and dancing vs. fast food and festival music; ball gowns vs. a field. You can’t please everyone. Should the organisers even try?
The answer would have to be yes. The Summer Ball is a huge event dedicated to rounding off the year or even students’ university tenure in style. It’s the big coming together of the university calendar. To steer it towards only happy couples or any other specific group of people, such as first-years or graduates, would be resoundingly unfair. Due to size and venue issues, Southampton University’s Summer Ball is only for final-year students; the idea being that it is a graduation party of sorts, rather than an event for all Southampton students.
Yet there is an interesting parallel in students’ perception of Cardiff University’s Summer Ball. Cardiff’s ball is, of course, for students of all years, but this should perhaps be better publicised; awareness of the Summer Ball amongst freshers could be higher, or at least more informed. It is a common first-year or even second-year (mis)conception that although the Summer Ball may not be an official Graduation Ball, it is essentially an event for final-year students.
Frances Parry, a first-year medic, said, “I thought it was more for graduates, but I’m not really sure why”, which arguably sums up the mood quite well. Once freshers attend, it might easily change – I am not commenting on the ball’s quality here – but before then the first-year feeling appears to be, if not disenchantment, disenfranchisement. First-year English Language student Jamie Thunder told me, “No one I know is going. It seems irrelevant to me; it feels a lot like it’s for third-years (and possibly some second-years) wanting a big party and that’s it. It feels more like a big goodbye bash than anything I’d feel comfortable going to as a first-year.”
A more positive approach is that many students look on the Summer Ball as something to be ‘done’ in their final year. Steve Nicholls, a first-year Mechanical Engineering student, said, “I feel like I could have gone if I’d wanted to, but I’d rather wait until my final year and go as a leaving thing.” As reasonable as this idea is, though, it comes from and contributes to the perceived ‘graduates only’ stigma.
The onus should, perhaps, be on the Union team to up their PR towards the fresher contingent. That’s not a criticism of the team’s current work; merely an observation that first-years aren’t necessarily clued up on the details of the Summer Ball beyond the fact that it happens. The Students’ Union cannot put posters in halls of residence, which is a significant problem, but the personal touch remains an option. In my first year, nobody came to University Hall to tell us about the Summer Ball; at least, not that I was aware, and I practically lived in the promotion-heavy Uni Hall Bar.
The situation hasn’t changed: aforementioned first-year Jamie elucidated that “some guy came round Senghenydd a couple of months back with tickets, but that’s all I know other than the Union posters”, and as the thoughts of several students in the voxpop below illustrate, visual advertisement of the Summer Ball, ubiquitous though it is, doesn’t go much beyond a list of acts (and the odd promise of toilet facilities – as if female attendees were expected to crouch behind a bush – and “state-of-the-art light and sound”).
The Summer Ball website this year has been good, providing details and even advice. It just seems the message hasn’t completely reached first-year students, as there is still a prevailing unease over whether the ball is ‘for’ them.
The line-up could persuade other students to have similar concerns. The Union obviously has students’ interests at heart, but there is a suggestion that in booking acts for the event, importance was thrown upon landing the biggest names possible rather than artists Cardiff students actually wanted to see at their Summer Ball. The two don’t necessarily go hand in hand.
The announcement that pop trio Scouting For Girls would be headlining the event was a bit of a shock to some students, not because their live performance isn’t the most visceral or even because they are a relatively small band, but because there was strong demand from students for them not to play.
This was not mere post-announcement grumbling either. When asked on the Summer Ball Facebook group – for what better way is there to reach students than Facebook – whom they would like to see play the Summer Ball, there was some really quite specific demand from students that Scouting For Girls would not feature. Many would argue you can’t base a decision on the opinions of a few people on Facebook, but then why ask in the first place?
The line-up has been criticised by a wide range of students as poor in comparison both to other universities’ summer ball line-ups this year and previous offerings at Cardiff. For the naturally jealous among you: Feeder are playing Leicester University’s Summer Ball, Scouting For Girls are being supported by Athlete at Gloucestershire, Fearne Cotton will be at Kent and Imperial College, London (who, bizarrely, also have a DJ set from The Mighty Boosh’s Naboo) and Varsity rivals Swansea have attracted the talents of Mutya Buena, The Wombats and – yes – The Vengaboys, while in the past, Cambridge colleges have boasted the likes of Amy Winehouse, The Scissor Sisters, The Kaiser Chiefs, Klaxons, Supergrass, Razorlight, Hot Chip, Röyksopp, The Magic Numbers, Ash, Editors and Fun Lovin’ Criminals, who didn’t turn up.
Still, the grass is always greener; it’s petty and unfair to compare Cardiff’s Summer Ball line-up to those of other universities and most importantly, as already mentioned, it is not merely a question of the bigger the bands the better. Far from it. Also, the organisers should be lauded for avoiding the common trap of booking antique bands no students really want to see even for irony’s sake (Right Said Fred, anyone?). The problem is that Cardiff’s line-up boasts neither widespread fame nor student acclaim, nor even the cheesy party spirit offered by the likes of The Vengaboys at Swansea.
Non-musical facilities are perhaps lacking too. While Leeds’ offer of “an orgasmic massage parlour” and a “pre-ordered wine speed bar” appears to promise sex, drugs and Mutya Buena (as well as being open from 6pm until 6am), Kent University has embraced a carnival atmosphere, with flame performers, stilt walkers, tattoo artists and a giant chocolate fountain. Many summer balls have casinos. Cardiff’s ball did in 1995, as well as gladiator jousting, sumo wrestling, Jools Holland and corporate sponsorship allowing a film tent, well-known comedians, 50p pints of Guinness and a choice of Chinese, Indian, American or Italian cuisine from successful restaurant outfits.
Again, this is not designed to undermine this year’s ball; merely to suggest that a greater diversity of attractions could be provided.
And to finish on a positive note, many students I spoke to were optimistic about the Summer Ball, and I particularly like the Silent Disco (great fun). It should be a wonderful night for those who attend.
It is just concerning that one sentence I heard a lot was, “It’s rubbish, but it’s a laugh.” As long as there’s alcohol most students will be happy, but there should be more to the Summer Ball than that – and first-years should be in the loop, not out of it.
There are issues to be addressed, it seems. But until then, dust off your gladrags and enjoy the show – such as it is.
