Category Archives: Event Entertainment

Dragons Den team building

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Dragons’ Den is a team-building event that gives your people the chance to do some real blue-sky thinking out of the office. Participants are split into teams and encouraged to conceptualise, research, and create a brand new product, idea, or service to take the market by storm. The theme can either be based on your business, for example, creating a marketing advert for an internal campaign, or simply left to the team’s innovation.

If you are looking to bring the best out of your staff, this Dragons Den idea is just great for:
Great for sharing new ideas and creative thinking
Brings the best out in people
Gives everyone the chance to be heard
Exposes new talents you may not see in the office
Ideal for getting involvement and buy in to new ideas or products
Fun, entertaining, competitive & inspiring
Links energy and results directly back to the workplace

Teams arrive in the ‘Den’ complete with themed music & graphics to emulate the real thing. The resident Evan Davies introduces the dragons who are normally a mixture of your senior members of your team. Groups head off to breakout rooms ready to plan their ideas and pitch.

Stages the teams could go through;

PLANNING: sharing ideas to come up with the winning formula concept
RESEARCH: target audience, competitors & unique selling points
MARKETING: graphics, presentation material and mock up designs
FINANCES: start-up costs, profits and forecast business value
THE PITCH: each member of the team must be involved in inspiring the Dragons

The event is light-hearted and FUN; however, a more serious twist can be applied. You may see an idea go on the market!!

Happy Birthday sweet 16

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Sweet 16 is a time of coming of age and celebrating it in true style. Many 16th birthday parties are becoming quite similar these days so why not make your 16th birthday party one to remember.

We’ve chosen a 16th Birthday, but this could be for any Birthday, just tailor to the age.

Firstly, choose a venue; this could be your own house. Secondly choose a theme. Trust us, this will make your 16th birthday party that extra bit more unique and give your guests the excitement leading up to your party.

Finally, your party entertainment… make your 16th birthday party stand out from the crowd and have some of the most interesting and lively entertainment. Underneath is a variety of 16 birthday party entertainment ideas to help you!

DJ – Every party needs great music. You will not need to worry about changing songs over on your IPod when a DJ can do it all for you by using the latest technology. You can tell the DJ exactly what music you would like played so your music can be catered specifically for you!

Photo booth – Why not keep a little memory of your 16th birthday party night by hiring a photo booth. Your guests will have so much fun trying on colourful props and overall having fun in the photo booth. Instant photos will be available for your guests and you will receive a DVD of all photos taken on the night.

Themed nights– Give your party that Vegas feel by having your very own fun casino. Spin the wheel, place your fun bets and have a laugh with all your guests. The Fun Casino is a great way to get your friends having a laugh and the style of entertainment is top class. Nobody else will have a casino at their 16th!

Magician – A walk around magician is perfectly suited to a Sweet 16 party. The magician will stun your guests with various tricks that will definitely catch them out. The magician could also be a comedian on the side, so Dynamo mixed with a bit of Lee Evans will go down a storm at your 16th birthday party.

Fish and Chip Van – If you are unsure of the catering you would like for your party, then why not hire out a fish and chip van. The food caters for everybody’s tastes and your guests will enjoy their very own freshly cooked food. You can tailor the food to your requirements as well, burgers, sausages, goujons… whatever you want you can have!

Overall, enjoy your 16th birthday party. This is your big night; it’s not every day you take that step from a childhood to adulthood. Your 16th birthday party will be all about you, show it off, and make sure to get the perfect entertainment for your party. But the best thing you can do is smile and create some amazing memories and plan the best 16th birthday party ideas right here!

Event ideas for businesses

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There are many ways to create a unique experience for your employees, customers, and potential customers. Hosting a business event like a happy hour or networking event is a great way to get in front of people and more about them at the same time.

Set your budget – How much can you afford to spend for the event? What will you need? Some of the usual costs associated with events include the venue, food, drinks, decor, marketing (printing/postage), giveaways and labour.

Create a guest list – How many people and who will you invite? How many people do you expect to show up? These answers will help you with the rest of the items on this list. Start by looking at your customer base and work from there. Use other networking events that you attend to pass out info about your event, if appropriate.

Select a date – When is the best time for your event? Select a few dates that work for you your potential invitees. Most people won’t be able to take time out from work just for your event. Keep in mind that your date needs to coincide with your venue availability. The more flexible you are, the better your chance of getting a great location, and a good price.

Research locations – Should your event be held at your business, or do you need to check out other locations that might work? How much room do they have? What does the venue include (i.e., food, drinks, staff, audio equipment)? Can you use their venue in exchange for getting more people in their door or in trade for something from your business?

Pick a theme – Having a theme can help brand your entire event from invitations to decorations, food, and drink ideas. Remember, the holidays are right around the corner and people LOVE holidays. Use Pinterest to your advantage for finding inexpensive and fun ideas for your theme.

Questions to ask yourself: How are you going to promote your event? What’s the right way to reach your target attendee, email, social media, print invitation? What will you offer people to get them to attend?

Send invitations – Try using different methods (paper, email, social media) to send out your invitations. You know your audience, what will work best for them? You may want to use multiple methods.

Find a similar or complementary business to co-host an event with you. You can use their customer list to gain more attendees for your event and possibly more prospects for your business.
Get donations from other business that might benefit from your event. They can sponsor different aspects of your event or help with giveaways.
Have invitations available at your place of business (if you have one), and on you all times to pass out. You never know when you’ll need them.
Social media is free! Make sure to use it to your advantage. You can offer invitees a deal for sharing your event with their friends.

Last but not least, play the host/hostess. Make sure during the event that you work the room and keep the event, conversation, food and drinks flowing!

A reliable Directory

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You can save enough time and energy when you engage a good entertainment directory in most cases, we have taken care of the brain work you would have carried out, and have the best unique and highly acclaimed artists in the business.

Red Masque will help you filter available options. You can get several options when thinking of hiring bands, singers, musicians, comedians and other artists. You may be confused especially when you don’t know any of the artists in person. You can save yourself the trouble by ensuring that Red Masque only advertises the very best and whatever choice you make will always be the right one.

We understand exactly what you want. You are able to contact various artists of your choosing and meet if you so wish to choose suitable music or songs for your event.

With a reliable entertainment directory, you can get suitable price for hiring a band. You can also get the right price for other artists you may want to hire.

To locate us, you have to come online; which is the first step. There are several agencies offering unique services on the internet, but you need to consider some factors when looking for the right agency. You have to compare several agencies before making your choice. You can ask the manager some questions. Or you can also arrange a private interview with each artist. This will help you make the right choice.

Professional services every time

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There are reasons for engaging an entertainment directory. In the first place, you may not have time to make the right choice when hiring a band or a DJ. Red Masque events entertainment directory will have the perfect choice for you. We can link you up with the best bands in town. You are sure to find a reliable DJ that can handle your event.

It’s not an easy thing to organize an event no matter how small the size. The event may be a wedding reception, concert, corporate event, launch party, fundraising and the like. You need to entertain the guests if you really want to make them happy at the event. You can’t do it all alone. You need to engage the services of an entertainment directory such as Red Masque.

Often at times, some entertainment agencies offer band and DJ services. They do have artists who specialize in different areas of music. Such an agency can offer DJ and band services at affordable price. They also have MC’s that can make people happy at events. All you need is to get in touch with the right agency like Red Masque that can tailor make your special event.

You can be sure of proper accountability when you engage a reliable entertainment directory. Red Masque will give you accurate details online regarding the entertainment aspect of the event.

Professionalism is our game and trusted services when you engage with us. Your guests will be thoroughly satisfied with the acts you have chosen. You don’t need to suffer sleepless night once you have one of Red Masques acts at your event or party.

Indeed, there’s a lot to gain when you hire from a reputable entertainment directory. You don’t have to be in a hurry when searching for the very best. Now that you have found us we will guarantee that you will not book from anywhere else. Once you have chosen your entertainment you are able to contact direct. You are able to ask the officials some questions, and get it right first time.

Really stand out!!

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In order to promote your brand successfully, you have to be excited about the product. Well, what if your product just isn’t that exciting? If you can’t present it to your trade show visitors in a way that delights them, they’ll move along. To attract crowds to your trade show booth, you’re going to have to use a little creativity. At Red Masque we like to help you make every event extraordinary. So, here are our five proven ways to attract crowds to your trade show booth and make your brand stand out.

Make your services clear, offer some freebies, display visuals, and have an articulate staff. Now what?

Photo booths

Offering to take a visitor’s photo can help you initiate a fun conversation and leave them with a memorable souvenir. We recommend using an electronic photo booth for a contemporary approach. This new form of photo entertainment allows you to add quirky graphics and can instantly be shared on social media platforms. With the green screen technology, you can place your company’s logo into every photo, transforming a fun experience for the trade show attendees into a unique opportunity to promote your brand.

Themes

Creating a theme for your exhibit requires a bit of associative thinking. For example, if your product solves a customer’s problem, you could opt for a magic theme, playing off of the idea that your product will cause specific problems to magically disappear. Your theme could be incorporated into ornate and unique attire for your company’s exhibitors. You could offer giveaways associated with your theme, like pens with disappearing ink. And of course, you can hire an entertainer (such as an illusionist) to draw in the crowd and keep them in awe.

Strolling Tables

Strolling tables, also referred to as living tables, are performers who wear elaborate costumes designed to provide a flat surface surrounding their form. On this, you can display promotional materials, giveaways, or even hors d’oeuvres. Not only will visitors remember your company, but they’ll also associate you with innovation and imagination.

Casino Games

With all of the exciting lights, sounds, and moving parts of casino games, it’s easy to see the benefits of offering them at your exhibit. You can recreate the adrenaline-inducing casino atmosphere to draw in a crowd, and likely the crowd will inspire more onlookers to stop out of curiosity. For the prizes, you could offer your company’s giveaways, and for the grand prize, offer one of your products. You’ll create more value in your product by making it fun and challenging to win!

Impersonators

Nothing is as eye-catching as a well-known celebrity standing in your booth. Hiring an impersonator or celebrity lookalike is a comical way of showing mock celebrity endorsement for your company. The impersonator can offer their autograph on your promotional materials to keep your brand in the visitor’s hand. Create a memorable experience for your visitors by offering photo opportunities with the ‘celebrity’ at an electronic photo booth. This will allow you to brand the photo with your company logo, and visitors will be excited to share the moment with their friends on social media, offering additional exposure.

With these five showcasing methods, you can make your visitors as excited about your brand as you are. Your company will step outside of the ordinary, and trade show attendees will remember your brand and associate your product with ingenuity.

We look forward to joining you each year

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New Year is upon us. Parties and events are starting to fill our calendars, but often times these outings become so routine that we dread attending them. Try out these 10 tips to add a little flare into your holiday season.

Use New Technology

New technology can be daunting, but the holiday season presents an exciting time to try out a new tool or program. Perhaps you have been waiting to purchase a certain software or learn a new technique. The end of the year presents a great opportunity to prep for next year and try out something new.

Provide Festive Favours

Event favours and giveaways can range from wonderful, useful gifts to items you may throw away once you leave the door. Try to spice up your holiday event by providing a themed gift such as seasonal treats or candies, decorative items themed for the season or a candle with a holiday scent. Favours like these will go to good use and leave your event fresh in the minds of your guests.

Get creative with your Holiday Food

Creating NYE menus can pose a challenge because everyone expects different items depending on their culture or upbringing. Try sticking with seasonal flavours. These will help to keep you on trend during the seasons.

Make the Most of Social Media

Social media has a presence at every event these days, so why not include it in your NYE party? You can create a hashtag to gather the pictures from your event, no matter how large your group! Even smaller family or office gatherings can engage through the use of social media.

Build your own photo booth and have your family, friends or co-workers share the photos using your hashtag. Following the event, you will have all of your wonderful photos linked together! Little ideas like this can go a long way in providing group entertainment and increase interaction.

Change Up the Seating

Try out a new seating style at your party! Open seating or a long family style table, might be just the right fit for your event. The holidays are about bringing people together and having fun. Make sure your space and layout reflect the vibe of the season and celebration.

Add Signature Holiday Cocktails

Play around with fun flavours in your drink selection as well. Use mint, cranberry juice, or cider. Drinks can be with or without the alcohol depending on the time or day or group of people. Either way, signature cocktails can be fun and add some excitement to your event.

Surprise Your Guests

Use the holiday season to add some fun and anticipation to your events! Perhaps you bring in a special surprise guest or send them home with an unexpected holiday gift. If you are planning a party for your staff or family, you could even keep the event location a surprise and host a scavenger hunt to the big reveal! A little mystery can go a long way in bringing energy to your holiday event.

Provide an Opportunity to Give Back

The season brings out the best in most people. We all want to give a little more and celebrate the wonderful blessings around us. At your event, you could provide a chance for guests to donate to a good cause or host a silent auction where the proceeds benefit a local charity.

If you have a family event, perhaps a portion of your day is spent volunteering together in your community. Think of causes that you or your guests might have a connection to and find a way to integrate this into your holiday festivities.

Include Festive Kids Activities

Kids love the holidays! The fun-filled atmosphere and extra special magic that the season brings is beautiful through the eyes of a child. If you are hosting an event where children are welcomed, be sure to provide a holiday craft or activity that is geared towards them. Who knows, if they are extra well behaved, perhaps the jolly man in red could make an appearance and hand out a few gifts.

Up the Customer Service

When everyone is in the holiday spirit the world just seems a bit brighter, but the long hours and stressful work of an event mean staff can be run ragged during these months of the year. Make customer service the focus for you and your staff during these holiday parties.

Try to start and end each day on a positive note and make sure your team feels appreciate for planning wonderful holiday events. The extra special feeling you provide with customer service will keep your guests coming back and have them asking you to plan many more events.

A West End Musical event

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We all love musicals. Even those people who say that they don’t can be found screaming Grease Lightning at the top of their lungs at party events every summer. It makes sense then that musicals from the West End and Broadway are therefore commandeered for weddings, corporate events and private parties. 

Mary Poppins

Ah yes. Famous for dancing penguins, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and Dick Van Dyke’s horrendous cockney accent, this is a musical that combines animation and live action to great effect. A family classic for all the family. But how does that translate to events?  Why not hire a dance troupe with some costumes and umbrellas and create a wonderful Poppins scene at authentic venue of your choice?

Sound of Music

For a merry West End sing-song of all the hits from the Sound of Music. Do-Re-Me, So Long Farewell, 16 Going on 17, Climb Every Mountain and My Favourite Things could be belted out to a costumed audience. Who doesn’t like this film?  Such an idea won’t be perfect for every corporate gathering but it certainly be a unique and pleasant experience!

Mamma Mia

Knowing Me, Knowing You, Dancing Queen, Waterloo… The hits are endless and as a result, why not book a tribute band and dance away? Or go wild and have a full on 70’s costumed event. Abba is everyone’s guilty pleasure. The result; a fabulously fun and entertaining party that is thoroughly enjoyed.

Jersey Boys

“Oh what a night!” is exactly what you’d be saying after experiencing a Jersey Boys Tribute act. That was exactly what to sing a medley of brilliant hits. Cherie, Walk Like a Man, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Who Loves You… Just some of the hits that can be Working My Way Back to You.

Rocky Horror

Richard O’ Brien’s greatest moment? Only if you wish to disregard his marvellous work on The Crystal Maze. Even so, the Rocky Horror Show is a huge cult musical that fans always like to dress up for.  These themed parties for the Rocky Horror never go out of fashion. Many bands love to recreate the songs from this show and everyone will love a bit of ‘closet’ dressing up!!

We will Rock you

There’s no reason this can’t be done in its entirety but for the certified Best Single of All Time, Bohemian Rhapsody. “Galileo! Galileo! Galileo Figaro! Magnifico…” We’ve got Freddie Mercury lookalikes before and know that an all-singing, all-dancing inspired Queen recreation would be the perfect musical experience for a corporate or private crowd. Fun fact for you: Robert De Niro was one of the producers of We Will Rock You in the West End. Amazing.

And if your event doesn’t go to plan?

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It’s the nightmare we’ve all dreaded. The band that you have your heart set on can no longer perform at your event. They were perfect in every way but alas, are already booked/ill/otherwise engaged.

So what can you do now? They were all you ever wanted! Well, here are a few tips.

Don’t Panic

It may be cliché to say it but let’s calm down a moment. Let’s think this through rationally. It’s just that the music won’t be provided by your first choice band. But nobody except you knows that. ‘Don’t Panic’ is the number one rule in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy for a reason. Because panicking causes rash decisions and you definitely don’t want to do that. So breathe. In, out. That’s it. Now you’re getting it. Let’s think about what we can do to ensure that your event is just as perfect as you imagined.

Listen to the Band Again

Although you don’t realise it right now, this is shrewd advice. Listen to the band perform again with an analytical ear. Watch the videos. What is it about this band in particular that you liked? A three-piece? Acoustic? Their style? See if you can pinpoint exactly what it was that made you fall in love with their music in the first place.

Look on the Red Masque Directory

We have a wealth of party and event entertainment that you can book. Just look on our gallery. It’s true, some of our most popular acts are hugely popular for a reason and may not be available, but there are many bands who are just as good, ready to perform, aren’t quite as well known and may even save you a bit of a cash along the way. How’s that for a good deal?

But you want only the best

We only advertise the best event entertainers and we wouldn’t advertise a band you won’t be happy with. Just because some bands are more expensive than others, doesn’t mean they are necessarily better musicians. They may be just starting out they may be seasoned musicians who are starting a new band or they may have recently lowered their fee for a multitude of reasons. Either way, be assured that you are getting an incredible deal on your event entertainment.

Relax

In the days preceding your launch party, wedding or event, you may be fretting that this band still aren’t totally perfect but come on now, it’s time to think about something else. Sure enough, the day arrives and the band go down a storm. And that extra £200 can go behind the bar for all to enjoy. What a day, eh? All’s well that ends well.

The Bo Diddlers

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So if you thought you knew all about Morris Dancing, think again…

This group of Morris Dancers calling themselves The Bo Diddlers are a new kind of Morris Dance act who are ‘experimenting’ using a blend of contemporary and folk dance. And do you know what? It really works well.

They put a humorous touch in their act (it gets quite physical) with live music the group creates something quite mesmerising and downright funny, so if you were expecting the traditional Morris Dance (which can be a bit bland) you will be more than pleased you booked these guys

They have created an hour long show called Stump and it has been put together especially for the theatre, it gives a traditional outdoor event an exciting twist whilst having a sense of being theatrical

The Bo Diddlers have performed at the Brighton Fringe Festival and danced at the Royal Court Theatre as well as other prestigious events.

So if you want an event to be a bit different in and unexpected then you should book The Bo Diddlers. At your corporate event which will break the ice and get people taking, this is a definite act to hire.

The unexpected is always good and a seemingly ‘ordinary’ event which is custom for you to go to year after year and where the entertainment is always quite ‘samey’, this act will certainly be a wonderful surprise.

So if you have been put in charge of organising this years’ corporate Christmas party and you wanted to be in your CEO’s good books, we believe you are looking at the main act of the year!!