What I’ve learned about … throwing a party

By Gena Tuffery, May 25, 2007 @ 10 am

Idealog May/June 2007, page 100. Cuba Street carnival photograph by Robert Catto

Many a loosely-labelled ‘legendary party’ involves the police, but only a truly legendary party changes the law. Chris Morley-Hall was part of the 90s British rave movement that welcomed the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act with fiercely brandished glow-sticks. But these days he works with the law enforcers and has earned an open-ended consent to put on this country’s biggest street festival—Wellington’s Cuba Street Carnival.

If you want to throw a corporate shindig that people will remember, you want it to be bigger and better than everyone else’s. This year’s carni-ganza (top) filled Cuba and the surrounding streets with an estimated 150,000 people. But milling around isn’t necessarily partying, so 1,800 of those bodies got together to break the world record for the largest synchronised dance. Here’s how Morley-Hall gets everyone dancing in the streets.

Talk it up

“When we started out in 1999 there wasn’t much going on. Now the Wellington events calendar is choc-a-bloc but the arts community is pretty tight-knit here, so all the event organisers talk to each other to make sure we space things out.”

Work with the authorities

“We start having planning sessions with the council, Transit New Zealand and the police 18 months out from the carnival. The Wellington City Council is very receptive—they realise it’s much better to be involved in assisting an event than to dictate how to do it.”

Fitting sponsorship

“You don’t want just any old name splashed all over your event. We went after Go Wellington [the new name for Stagecoach Wellington] because it was a really good fit for the carnival as buses are the very best way to get to and from the event. Then they added even more value by providing $1 fares.”

Free love

“Everything being free [of charge] is an integral part of what a carnival’s all about. People can experience things they wouldn’t normally because of lack of finances or whatever. And the atmosphere is really relaxed and friendly because of that.”

Better, not bigger

“Quality is more important than just getting big numbers. The crowds will naturally get bigger and bigger every time, but we have to focus on putting on the best acts and theatre—not just letting any Tom, Dick and Harry perform just to make it as big as possible.”

Plan to party

“It’s all about the plan—the site plan and working out how to keep the crowd moving and entertained. We design the event so if you’re walking from one end to the other you’ll pass some really diverse acts and have something to look at wherever you are. We want every space to be an interesting space to be in—if you focus only on the main stages you’re dealing with only half of it. We look at the whole thing, including the periphery, from the audience’s point of view because we want them to have ownership of it. They’re just as important a part of the carnival as the performers.”