May Ball

A May Ball, despite the name, is a ball held in June at a Cambridge college at the end of the academic year.

They are traditionally formal affairs, requiring evening dress, with prices from around £75 to £160, with some colleges selling tickets only in pairs. The balls are held in the college gardens, lasting from around 9 p.m. until well after dawn, with some colleges offering rides in balloons when the ball ends, and even breakfast in Paris. "Survivors' photographs" are taken of those who last until morning.

Colleges hosting balls

Many colleges originally held the balls during the month of May, sometimes in the week preceding year-end exams. Today, they take place in May Week, which usually starts on the second Thursday of June following the end of exams, and which includes Suicide Sunday.

The First And Third Trinity Boat Club May Ball held by Trinity College is the most famous of the May Balls, always held on the first Monday of May Week, and its tickets are the most sought after. Others would argue St. John's May Ball to be the best May Ball: Time magazine once described it as the "7th greatest party in the world". There is a strict dress code at these, and all of the May Balls. Magdalene is the only college which insists on white tie, while either black or white tie is acceptable at Trinity and Peterhouse, and all others are black tie. Other desirable balls are held by Clare, which has some of the most beautiful gardens in Cambridge, and Gonville and Caius, regarded by the Times newspaper as "the most beautiful College in Cambridge".

Trinity, Clare, and John's are situated directly on the River Cam, along the Backs, as are Queens' and Trinity Hall. As a result, when several balls are held on the same evening, the river is lit up in different colours from the lights and the fireworks, creating a memorable backdrop to the evening's festivities.

Peterhouse tie preferred and Magdalene white tie hold biennial balls (alternating years, most recently Magdalene in 2005 and Peterhouse in 2006).

Other annual balls are held by Jesus, Robinson, Hughes Hall and St Edmund's; while Emmanuel, Corpus Christi, Christ's, Gonville and Caius, Homerton, Queens', Sidney Sussex and St Catharine's hold May Balls every two years. Most balls are themed, though Trinity's and Peterhouse's are notable for their lack of a theme.

Both Pembroke and Downing have annouced that they will begin hosting a May Ball in 2007, the former to alternate biennially with the (perviously annual) June Event , the later in lieu of the college's Spring Ball.

The Events

Most Balls have fundamental similarities: all will offer guests a variety of food, entertainment, and a bevy of alcoholic drinks. The quality and diversity of all of these vary markedly between different Balls. While all Balls claim to offer "luxury" (and many deliver), some have distinctive hallmarks: Peterhouse is famed for its Ferris Wheel, Trinity for its unlimited champagne, St. John's for having the most expensive fireworks, Magdalene for its dining.

Balls have an enviable reputation for securing private performances from leading entertainers; in recent years names such as Kaiser Chiefs (Queens', 2005), Electric Six (Trinity, 2005), Royksopp (St. John's, 2005), Scissor Sisters (St. John's, 2004) have performed.

Ball crashing

Colleges with larger May Balls pay considerable attention to security and the prevention of ball crashing. With tickets priced at over £100 and in short supply, students often try to gain unauthorized access, climbing high walls, swimming underwater carrying their ballgowns in plastic bags, arriving dressed as gorillas pretending to be part of the evening's entertainment, and posing as journalists. One student was even known to have fired himself into a ball in a homemade cannon. Typically, College porters are joined by Ball staff, often drawn from College sports teams and police to identify and apprehend the crashers. Some Colleges have hired professional security staff, have hidden razor wire in bushes along the river, and have painted walls with anti-burglar paint, which stains the crashers' clothes with luminous green paint, making it somewhat difficult to blend in.

As part of the security arrangements, students living in parts of the College and not attending the May Ball are often required either to vacate their rooms or remain in them without leaving overnight, in spite of the inevitable loud music.

Alternatives

Several colleges host a variation on these balls, such as Trinity Hall, King's and Pembroke, which have a more egalitarian June Event. These are cheaper, tend to be focused on live music and frequently have less formal dress codes, although Pembroke June Event is still black tie. Pembroke is now planning to run a May Ball every other year, alternating with its Event, and the first of these Balls will take place in 2007. Emmanuel has one of these every other year, alternating with its ball. Selwyn has also broken with tradition and holds its Snowball each year at the beginning of December, while Fitzwilliam also holds a winter ball every other year, and Churchill, Girton and Downing all hold theirs in February and March.

Oxford equivalent

Oxford's equivalent of the May Ball is known as a Commemoration Ball or "Commem," because it is held in the ninth week of Trinity term, known as Commem week after the university Encaenia (commemoration of benefactors) which is held then.

External links

University of Cambridge | Parties