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A party is a social gathering intended primarily for celebration and recreation. While having some things in common with religious and seasonal festivals, the term "party" usually denotes a smaller gathering for a personal, rather than cultural, occasion even when the occasion is simply that of enjoyment.

Parties provide numerous opportunities for social interaction of various kinds, depending on the participants and their understanding of the accepted behavior for a given occasion. As a result, they tend to reinforce cultural and/or counter-cultural standards, though sometimes this is simply by providing a semi-acceptable social context for violating some of those standards.

Types of parties

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Birthday Party

A birthday party is a celebration that occurs to celebrate the birth of the person being honored. The birthday party is the most celebrated event in the world. As of July 2005 there were approximately 6.45 billion people on Earth[http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/xx.html#People. If birthdays were perfectly random in their distribution across the year, and if every person were to celebrate theirs at their exact birth time then there would be a birthday celebration every 0.005 seconds. While a kid's party is usually at home and consists of soft drinks and sweet food as well as savory, adults' usually take place in clubs with a buffet of savory food and alcohol.

In Western culture, particularly the United States, birthday parties are often accompanied by colorful decorations. A traditional birthday cake is often served with candles that are to be blown out after a "birthday wish" has been made. This wish is usually kept secret, and represents some desire for the time between the current birthday and the next. A birthday party may even be an event planned carefully through a special agency or through a party service.

Office Party

Office parties are events held by corporations or businesses often either at the site of the business or in high class venues. These celebrations can coincide with some change the business is making, or the undertaking of a new enterprise that the business wants support or publicity for. Office parties are also credited with boosting the general morale of those employed at the business. This can result in better temperament in the workplace and higher productivity ^*.

Dance Party

A dance party is an event where the main theme of the party involves loud music and dance. Conversation is not an integral part of these parties as those who attend express themselves through their physical movements.

See also: List of dance party albums

Rave Party

A spinoff of the standard dance party, the rave party involves loud music and dance, is generally counter-cultural in nature, and tends to challenge concepts of what is "proper". The other major difference is that most rave parties involve many people, usually numbering into and above thousands. The largest of these is the Berlin Love Parade, which has hosted over one million people in past years.

Beach Party

A beach party typically involves a bonfire during the night, which is the unifying and central aspect of the gathering. The style of these parties can largely deviate in regard to activities done throughout the duration of the gathering.

Dinner Party

A Dinner Party is a social gathering at which people eat dinner together.

Cocktail party

Primarily, a party where cocktails are served and women may choose to wear a cocktail dress. The inventor of the cocktail party is said to be Alec Waugh, who found a need for this pleasant interlude before a dinner party.

New Year's Party

A New Year's Party is usually hosted in a person's house on New Year's Eve to celebrate the changing of the calendar. Champagne is a traditional beverage served. Many hotels, bars, and restaurants also sponsor New Year's Parties, and hand out gift bags that include funny hats, streamers, balloons, and noisemakers used before and after the countdown to the new year. A famous televised event during this time is Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.

House Party

In the United States and the United Kingdom the term house party refers, typically, to a type of party where large groups of people (usually high school or college students) get together at a designated house, mainly for the purpose of consuming alcoholic beverages. Such parties are classified as house parties in order to distinguish them from parties that take place in the college dorm rooms and other places on campus.

There are several reasons why many high school and college students prefer house parties to other parties:

1. There is usually a lot of cheap alcohol. Most house parties have multiple kegs of beer that people can drink from after they pay a cover charge of only a few dollars. This is a big draw for college students, because they often have little money.
2. There are no authority figures immediately present. This is a big advantage for those who wish to partake in underage drinking, marijuana use, or other illegal activities, because there is (at least hypothetically) less chance of being caught.
3. There is more space, which means that more people can come, which makes for a better party atmosphere and increases the chances of meeting and "hooking up" with someone new. There is also more room to dance, which for many people is an essential part of partying and having a good time.
4. These kinds of parties often go on all night, much to the distress or annoyance of any neighbors, and most of the participants will end up 'crashing out' on the floor, sofas, cushions, or in some extreme cases a bathtub or back yard.

Cast Party

A cast party is a celebration following the last performance of a theatrical event, such as an opera, musical, or play, or following the end of shooting for a motion picture or following the final episode of a television series for the season. The party is often exclusive to the performers and crew members, with a smaller number of guests who did not themselves participate in the performance. Cast parties are traditional for almost all acted performances, including amateur events such as highschool plays.

The popular comedy program Saturday Night Live is well known for having a cast party after the taping of every episode.

Traditional Parties

Traditional parties such as the English tea party or the modern cocktail party, are social gatherings within a fairly formal, or at least stylized, atmosphere. These parties often have roots in tradition which can be regional, cultural, or specific to a single family. Religious celebrations like the Jewish Brit milah and the coming of age celebration of B'nai Mitzvah are usually accompanied by a traditional party.

Marriage Related Parties

• Bachelor party (UK: Stag Night, Australia: Bucks Night)
• Bachelorette party (UK: Hens Night)

Holiday Related Parties

United States

• 4th of July parties
• Kwanzaa parties
• Halloween party

Internationally celebrated Parties

• Saint Patrick's Day parties
• New Years Parties

Christian

• Christmas parties

Islam

• Eid ul-Fitr celebrations

Jewish

• Passover celebrations
• Hanukah parties
• Purim parties

Parties focused on a specific interest

• Costume Party

This is an offshoot of the classic masquerade ball, where the costumes of the participants provide the theme of the event. Costume parties can be designated with a specific type of costume to be worn for example horror, fantasy, anime, or dress from a certain era or culture much like the toga party.

• Game Party

A game party is a social gathering where games are engaged in. Bridge parties where the card game of bridge is played and various party games like Spin the bottle and Truth or Dare are common.

• LAN Party

main article LAN Party

• Pharm Party

Pharm parties (pharm as short for pharmacy) are controversial events where young adults bring different types of Prescription drugs to a location wherein they are distributed in various ways. This is obviously an incredibly dangerous activity because certain combinations of prescription drugs can cause serious injury or death when taken simultaneously. Further danger is apparent when it is understood that alcoholic beverages are thrown in the mix. Despite the media attention there are currently no statistics regarding these pharm parties.

• 'Coke' Party

is a party where the primary inebriant featured at the party is cocaine. This is often a euphemism cocaine users use to describe shared drug use.

• Pool Party

An event where the main action of the party involves swimming, and any other entertainment which can involve a swimming pool.

See also

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• Celebration
• Convention
• Hangover
• Holiday
• Sleepover

Parties

Party | Fiesta | Fest