Barn Dance - Saturday 17th October 2009

Planning any event in aid of St Giles Church Bells, Restoration Appeal takes quite a bit of thought. On one hand we want to make money, but equally we want everyone involved to enjoy themselves so back in August the bell ringers decided that a barn dance would be an excellent way to do both.

Taking advice of friends and colleagues who had run similar events in the past, we knew that we would need plenty of people along to make the barn dance a success, so publicity was vitally important. In terms of food, we felt offering a ploughman’s with a really good variety of foods (such as dips, crisps, different cheeses) would go down well, with something nice and autumnal (apple pie and cream) for dessert. The Hayloft Ceilidh Band came highly recommended from a friend and the village hall was duly booked for the 17th October.

As the date grew nearer, we put energy into our publicity efforts with a combination of internet advertising, articles in several local newspapers, leaflet distribution in surrounding villages, posters, radio adverts and as much word of mouth networking as we could manage. Slowly but surely, ticket sales started to creep up and it soon became clear that the event was going to be very popular and bar supplies (including a barrel of real ale) could be ordered accordingly.

With plenty of people offering help, the day itself ran smoothly with four of us taking an early trip to buy food and sundries and a team of food and bar staff turning up in late afternoon to begin food preparation. Tables were decorated with autumnal leaves and pretty tablecloths, drinks were chilled and a table displaying raffle prizes was prepared. By the time our guests started to arrive, we were all set to go and once the band began playing the first dance, it was wonderful to see so many people get up enthusiastically ready to start dancing.

The music and dancing were really enjoyable with 90 guests + a small army of ‘staff’, the floor was rarely empty as people circled, swung their partners and hurtled up and down the room enthusiastically. One of the nicest aspects to any barn dance is the ability to mix with and meet lots of different people of all age groups it’s a truly social event and when dance moves go a bit awry, it all adds to the fun.

During the interval, food was served and enjoyed by everyone. Any left over items were duly purchased by many people at the end meaning there was very little wastage. Our one mistake was seriously overestimating the amount of coleslaw needed, but we live and learn - and for future events we certainly won’t be purchasing 4 giant containers!

The bar was steadily busy, with beers, ciders, wines and soft drinks selling well and our bar staff doing an expert job serving queues of people (and a couple of them popping out for the occasional high energy dance when things were less busy!)

With the party in full swing we had some lovely comments. A couple of people said it was one of the best dances they’d been to for ages. Thanks to all who came to enjoy this event and to support our restoration appeal. Ticket sales, donations, raffle tickets, bar proceeds and our food sale at the end of the event raised around £940.

Our thanks also go to the Hayloft Ceilidh Band, the catering team, the bar team, the raffle team, the ticket sellers and the publicity team. Many thanks too for all who generously donated raffle prizes. Everybody's efforts contributed to a really sucessful evening

Would we do it again? Yes probably - although having braved a little risk by outlaying for the hall & band, we did have some nail biting moments before the ticket sales started to really take off, and distributing fliers in the pouring rain was a bit of a low point. Putting on an event that proved profitable, high energy and fun was always going to involve some speculation and hard work, but we’ve discovered that when our team pull together and put shared energy into a project, it’s amazing how successful it can be!

Further enquiries to Alan Masters