The Graduation Ball organised by the LUSU will take place from 8pm on Sunday, Week 9. On Thursday, Week 2, they announced a series of headline acts for the event, including Chase & Status, Neon Jungle and Ms. Dynamite. This year’s Grad Ball is also notable for the high demand for tickets, with one LUSU officer labelling it “the fastest selling Grad Ball ever!”
LUSU have been praised for securing such high-profile acts, and much of the credit has gone to VP (Activities) Emily Pollitt – the officer responsible for Grad Ball.
Due to commitments with the Roses competition, Pollitt was unfortunately unavailable for comment, so SCAN spoke to VP (Union Development) Laurence Pullan who said: “I know for a fact that it would have taken a huge amount of work and effort” to organise and prepare Grad Ball.
Pullan noted the difficulty in “securing such high profile acts,” especially Chase & Status who have “headlined festivals in their time” and are considered by many a “household name”. Other acts that will be performing at Grad Ball include Ms. Dynamite and Neon Jungle. Pullan commended the officers and staff who were involved in planning the entertainment part of the Grad Ball.
The high-profile acts may have been responsible for the high demand for Grad Ball tickets, something Pullan was keen to comment on, labelling this year’s Ball “the fastest selling Grad Ball ever!” In terms of queues for tickets, Pullan said that they were “huge,” admitting LUSU didn’t expect such a large demand for tickets. Pullan also said that the Union did not currently have the infrastructure for online ticket-selling, something several students called for in the aftermath of the long waits for tickets. Tickets are still available at the Welcome Desk in LUSU
Although he told SCAN that in the past, the Union has outsourced ticket-selling to external companies for events such as Extravaganza, which add a premium on top of the ticket prices – however the Union wanted to keep ticket prices as low as possible, especially by including Purple Card deals which can get “up to £15 off” tickets. Similar deals are available to Purple Card holders looking to buy attire and book hotel rooms near the venue.
This is the second year for the Grad Ball to be held in the Blackpool Tower Ballroom, which has previously been used as a venue to host BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing. Tickets are still on sale and cost £45.50 for Purple Card holders and £54.50 for those without.
