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At £76 (priority booked) per ticket the meal and ball represent a hefty expenditure during a time of economic recession and low remaining student loan. A lot of people argue that it is not worth the money; and I hope they are wrong...
The problematic issue with any ball is that a decent outfit adds cost on top of that for tickets and drinks and other miscellaneous expenditures. My current financial total for the summer ball is just below the £200 mark, and that’s with a dress cunningly snagged from a shopping outlet trying to dispose of last season's fashions, and other essential items purchased that, while not from a second hand shop, are definitely not designer.
Luckily for us though the summer ball is at least happening on the racecourse. It took a lot to justify the £76 for the ticket to myself and my distinctly ill looking bank balance that seems to have developed some kind of cash-flow diarrhea in my last few weeks as a student, but just the knowledge that the organisers could have charged around the same for the pleasure of bumming around campus at night in posh frocks, makes the event at the racecourse worth the cash. After all, when you consider that the £76 includes the meal, the transport and the event it isn’t actually that bad. Or rather it is at least justifiable.
There are other events not quite on the same scale that we also have the option of attending. Events that don’t cost as much, but do not offer the same level of luxury as others, such as the York Sport Dinner (or the AU dinner as it was previously known).
Now held in the Roger Kirk instead of the various different locations it previously has been held at, the York Sport Dinner is an example of what could have happened to the Summer Ball if it had been allowed to move to campus. The food was good when I attended last year, but the atmosphere somehow lacks something by allowing it to be held in a facility that we all have access to by day. It felt like less of a ‘dinner’ event and more of a school disco last year, and it wasn’t helped by the fact that the tiny dance floor had been snuck in between the stage and the tables themselves, and was hardly big enough to hold everyone who wanted to dance. It could have been done a lot better, and the facilities weren’t perfect, but it was a reasonable night.
Of course what actually makes these events is the conduct of the attendees. While not usually dangerous, any event can get both rowdy and unpleasant. So, as a warning to all those who didn’t see it and a message to those who did it i.e. whichever team(s) drank wine from a shoe at last years AU meal, I have two words for you: facial verruca.
A message to those who did it i.e. whichever team(s) drank wine from a shoe at last years AU meal, I have two words for you: facial verruca.
While there are balls that are expensive or disappointing, there are also those which are apparently pleasantly surprising. A few weeks ago I couldn’t go anywhere without hearing people sing the praises of the Goodricke ball. Not being a member of Goodricke college I didn’t get to see for myself, but from what was relayed to me by friends it was well worth the money and was cited amongst my friendship group after that as the reason why the summer ball and leavers meal shouldn’t have to cost as much as it does. The general feeling is that if Goodricke can do it, why can’t the summer ball organisers?
Overall the general feeling is that for our money, these balls could be much better. The AU ball was still around the same price when it took place off campus, and it had an added atmosphere that you don’t get with on-campus facilities. The Goodricke ball was apparently excellent for the cost, and it would be nice if more events elicited this response from the York student body. The summer ball is different though. It was very nearly a tacky on-campus affair, with everything divided amongst the ugly, poorly equipped buildings we have access to nearly every day anyway.
I personally am quite happy to pay the money for the summer ball and leavers' meal when it is at an external site, and includes the food and transport. I also think it is a great idea that separate tickets can be bought for just the ball part, and you can upgrade from just one section to both with some extra expenditure.
The balls here aren’t perfect, but for all the financial complaints we have it is important to remember, corny as it sounds, that it is not the place or the food or the music that makes an experience great - it is the people.
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