Summer Party cost questioned

The lineup for the 2012 Summer Party was announced on Monday 23 April, with the headlining acts revealed to be Noah and the Whale and Ms Dynamite.

Other bands that will play the annual festival include Jakwob, Stooshe, Clement Marfo and Frontline, Post War Years, By the Rivers and 3=car.

Students’ Union (SU) Development Officer George Whitworth commented on the selection; “you’re never ever going to please everyone. People will always be disappointed. If you get something everyone likes, then it’s probably going to be shit. It’s not my bag at all, but we have to put on a line-up that will appeal to as many students as possible.”

Whitworth also stated that the Ms Dynamite was “quite good value” but could not confirm how much each act cost on an individual basis, apart from that “it costs more than people think.”

Fourth-year Engineering student Stacey Ryder said that although “the line up isn’t the best, it’s all about the atmosphere at the end of the day. Last year I didn’t really even watch the bands.” She added that “tickets are a bit overpriced, a fair price would be under £30.”

Other SUs line-ups have included more high profile acts. Leeds University’s Summer Ball features Katy B and Labrinth headlining, with Greg James DJ-ing. The University of Nottingham’s Summer Party also has Labrinth headlining, alongside Delilah, Dutty Moonshine and Wheatus. Other SUs are yet more expensive still. The University of Kent’s Summer Ball also sees Noah and the Whale taking to the main stage, supported by the Saturdays and Sub Focus, for a rather more expensive £47.

The budget for the party was £120,000, with just shy of £60,000 spent on acts. The price of the tickets has not changed, remaining at £38, although this is an increase on the 2010 price, which was £35. At the time of going to press, 1,500 tickets ha been sold, which is a similar figure to the amount of tickets sold at this point in 2011.

So far there have been no confirmed sponsors for the Summer Party. Last year, Bacardi, Red Stag and Kopperberg were the main sponsors of the event. Whitworth said that obtaining sponsorship was largely dependent on advertising campaigns run by potential sponsors. “Last year sponsorship was largely tied in with advertising campaigns that drinks companies were running, so it depends on what they’re doing this year.” He added that traditional sources of sponsorship such as graduate recruiters are not interested as the Summer Party is held at the end of their recruitment cycle. Hence, sponsorship is largely confined to travel and drinks companies. 


Whitworth dismissed the importance of sponsors on the pricing of the event, saying “even if they give £5,000, that’s only the equivalent of about £1 off of each ticket, it doesn’t have a huge impact on the ticket price.” He also challenged students to find cheaper alternatives “I’ve looked at Summer balls and parties all over the country, and the only ones that I can find that are cheaper are Nottingham and Leeds”, although he hastened to add that they could only afford cheaper tickets because of their substantially larger student populations.

The Students’ Union website crashed for approximately twenty minutes when the lineup was made public, preventing students from purchasing their tickets online or buying them at the SU reception.

This followed a u-turn by the SU over the sales of tickets, which were temporarily released at the end of Term 2. The tickets were withdrawn from sale after just 24 hours after concerns by students that many could not afford them at that point in the year.

As usual the event will include a funfair, inflatable olympics and an after party in the Copper Rooms, which Whitworth said had been revamped, with the SU “putting a bit more effort” into it this year, include a collaboration with Ministry of Sound.

The party will take place on Sunday June 24 on the fields next to University House. Up to 4,000 students are expected to attend the event.