Planning

Planning your own event - maybe barn dance or a concert? Here's a tick-list that we hope will help your planning...

• Book the hall well in advance - and make sure its about the right the size for the number of guests. Too big and you may loose the party atmosphere, too small and elderly people may find it too difficult and any dancing will be awkward.
• Do you need a microphone and amplification for announcements? Pandemonium has these.
• Does the venue have wheelchair access?
• Does the venue have a big enough car park? If not, you'll need to find out where people can park and advise them on the invitations.
• Alcohol? If alcohol is served, then guests should consider using a mini-bus or taxi for transport.
• Planning to have more than 1 entertainer? You'll need to allow time between 'acts' to setup the gear and get the sound right. Talk it over with the acts and they will help you on this one.
• Fund-raising? If you're doing a raffle, remember to allow time to draw the tickets and announce the prizes. This invariably takes longer than you'd think, so plan carefully!
• Fancy a disco too? We have found that live music and recorded music don't follow each other at all well, so choose one or the other.
• An out-of-the-way venue? Include a printed and a postcode for those with satnav or using multimap or similar.

Glossary

Ceilidh

"OK - I give in. What's a ceilidh?"

"Ceilidh is a Gaelic word pronounced 'kaylee' and refers to a gathering. The word is often used to describe traditional social dancing where a caller takes the dancers through the moves before the dance starts, and reminds them what to do during the dance as well. The dancers don't need any dancing experience and so the atmosphere is always full of laughter and fun!"

"So, its like a barn dance?"

"Exactly!"

"So do I need a barn?"

"Errr... no, you don't need an actual barn"