Jingle Bells

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You might think of Jingle Bells being a Christmas classics, it isn’t actually a Christmas song! Read on to find out more to the history of this festive tune. Or not-festive tune as the case may be.

The song we sing today was written by a man named James Lord Pierpont in or around 1850. Nobody is exactly sure of the precise time at which it was written or indeed, where. What we do know is that Pierpont was an American and although he hailed from Medford in Massachusetts, he only published the song when living in Savannah, Georgia. The only reason that this is of importance is that both towns lay claim to being the birthplace of Jingle Bells.

If you can recall – we highly expect you to be able to – the very first lyrics to Jingle Bells sound eminently Christmassy; “Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh, over the hills we go, laughing all the way…” Horses aren’t really associated with Christmas and although snow certainly is, there’s not really anything else to link the song to everybody’s favourite holiday entertainment song. The reason for that? It…isn’t a Christmas song.

You see, although we only ever sing the first verse and chorus, there are many more lyrics to Jingle Bells that none of us really know. Some believe that the song was written for children to sing to the congregation at Sunday School. Alas, the verses none of us know go in a pretty intriguing direction with references to the sleigh crashing, a race with another sleigh owner and…err.. picking up women: “Now the ground is white, go it while you’re young, take the girls tonight, and sing this sleighing song…” Would children sing that? Probably not, though one could easily argue for the innocence of youth.

Others believe that Jingle Bells is actually a drinking song. Historians are aware that it was a hugely popular song to sing at private parties, with guests ‘jingling’ the ice cubes in their glasses as they sang. Jingle all the way indeed! So which holiday is it about? If we go back to what we’ve previously written, the clue might be found in the history of Medford, Massachusetts. Back in the 1840s and 1850s, the Medford Sleigh Races were a hugely popular event with townsfolk cheering on the sleighs as they tore around the town. But they didn’t take place in December! They actually took place during Thanksgiving, which makes Pierpont’s classic ballad a song for the holidays, just not the one we all thought!

Intimate dinner party acts

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Cello

The cello is the perfect sound for a classy dinner private party amongst a few choice guests. It has a sound that many people absolutely adore, its low timbre fitting perfectly with a number of other instruments or in a solo setting.

Violin

The Violin is popular entertainment for private parties and corporate events, no matter intimate or otherwise. Mixing a Cello and a Violin are extremely popular which fits for virtually any occasion. Another act combination that people enjoy for intimate dinner parties is violin and…

Harp

The harp is a gorgeous, gentle instrument that many adore but rather interestingly, rarely get to experience live. It could be because it’s a rather bulky instrument for a child to play, so many performers actually learn when they’re adults. Perfect as an accompaniment to dinner, the harp is also great in combination with strings or woodwind.

Pianists

Pianists are fantastic for creating mood and providing a soundtrack to your evening, no matter the function. Providing a repertoire of modern and classic hits, they tend to provide a fun and informal atmosphere for a whole host of events including dinner, drinks receptions or a small networking function.

Classical Guitarist

What is there to say about classical guitarists that hasn’t already been said (or assumed)? Well, for starters it’s not only western styles of music that are often booked; flamenco is extremely popular whilst many prefer a slightly different sound to what they ordinarily listen to as it promotes a sense of occasion for the evening.

Magician

Now you may be thinking that a magician wouldn’t fit in at all at your intimate soiree but they can be extremely effective for engaging a room and have been proven to be great for informal networking events. For dinner parties, there are some brilliantly parlour magicians that can sit with you at the tables.

As ever with these things, it’s all about finding the right entertainment for you.

Staged photography

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When it comes to booking entertainment for events and parties around London, clients often opt for a photo booth. If you think back to any event that have attended over the past 12 months, we guarantee that there was at least one photo booth for use at one of these events. Everybody likes them and they’re great… But what if they could be improved? That’s where Staged Photography comes in!

Staged Photography will require a little more room than a photo booth. Most booths can take up a small space in the corner of your venue, while a Staged Photography takes up quite a bit more space than that. But here’s the thing, you won’t mind because you want people to notice this amazing form of entertainment. You want people to have an incredible photo taken against the backdrop that you have chosen for your event!

Yes, the backdrops. The backdrops are what this is all about. You can pretend you’re in a horror movie, a Venetian ball, a rainforest. Pretty much any photo is possible with these backdrops. All you have to do is book Staged Photography, state the background you’d love to see on your photo and… That’s it. Come the day of your event, the incredibly immersive – “Is it 3D?” – backdrop will be unfurled and you’ll be stunned at the realism. Even more so when you join the picture later on!

Just like a photo booth, photos are available almost immediately so you can take your home your entertaining snap for use however you please. Want it digitally? That’s not a problem either! A truly brilliant form of entertainment.

The Irish Harp

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We thought we’d provide a few ideas on Irish entertainment. When thinking about the Emerald Isle and the entertainment provided to the world, an obvious place to start is the harp.

But what is the history of the Irish harp? Unfortunately, the instrument’s origins are lost to time, but we are able to piece together a potted timeline from the past 1,000 years. The last High King of Ireland, Brian Boru, who died in 1014, was said to be an accomplished player whilst various documents state that the Celtic harp was the only music played during the Crusades in the 12th century. For those unaware, despite some minor differences, the Irish harp, Celtic harp and Gaelic harp are all terms used to describe the same instrument.

It is known that the harp was revered across Celtic culture and Europe in the 1100s with various leaders having their own resident harpist who enjoyed a high status and special privileges. What did they have to do? As one might expect, they were expected to play music in accompaniment to other forms of event entertainment – poetry recitations or reading of psalms, etc. Alas, no music for the harp is written down from this period.

As any lover of history may tell you, Celtic culture wasn’t as popular as it used to be and the social status of a harp player began to lessen as the years wore on. No longer retained amongst the higher echelons, they took to the streets, performing as travelling musicians to the delight of crowds. Perhaps they were enjoyed too much; although the Irish harp was a symbol of the country and embraced around the world, it was now see as an emblem of resistance against the Crown and England. It was henceforth banned from the end of the Middle Ages and in just a few centuries, the Irish harp had all but disappeared.

…Well, almost. In 1792, a group of harpists travelled to Belfast for a traditional harp festival. A passionate musician, Edward Bunting, noted down the music they played and it is thanks to him that traditional Gaelic music lasts to this day; it had never previously been written down on paper (presumably because nobody ever saw the point or most harpists couldn’t read or write sheet music.)

There are less than a dozen Celtic harps that have survived from the medieval period. The oldest one is also the most famous – the Trinity College Harp, upon which the official emblem of Ireland is now based. It can be seen if you decide to visit Trinity College in Dublin and no doubt, you’ll learn even more about this lovely instrument.

Ideas for local events

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Deciding what type of event you should hold will depend on your goals, as well as the size and demographic of your target audience. However, here are some tried and trusted ideas for community events that should help get everyone together.

Use a themed event day
There are a multitude of different themed days you could utilise; you only need to look at the internet to see how many “National’ days are out there.

A firm favourite, which will also help your local library, is World Book Day. The best way to get the community involved is by getting everyone to dress as their favourite character from any book they choose. This could mean dressing as Where’s Wally, The Cat in the Hat, Mr Darcy even! The possibilities are endless!

Invite local authors, or even famous authors who have ties to your community. You can organise a selection of readings with an open-mic night, and why not organise a poetry competition and get a local bookshop to donate prizes?

Organise a performance
Amateur dramatics has been a long standing part of the community, so why not gather some aspiring thespians together and organise a show?

This doesn’t have to be on a stage in the community hall, why not change things up and create a walking performance? Get the audience to follow a set course around town, where they can watch parts of the play in certain areas. Have your actors do scenes or interact with the audience in-between stops, making them part of the performance.

Food Festival/Farmer’s Market
Who can say no to delicious food? Especially when the town is filled with the most amazing smells!
Whether you get some local farmers, caterers or local food shops together, this is a great way to highlight the local produce and local sellers in the area. As well as getting to eat all the delicious food at an event, people will know they will be able to buy this produce locally on any other given day.

Why not think Great British Bake Off and ask the community to create their own showstopper cakes and raffle them off. No one can turn down cake, especially if you have a tea stand nearby!

Host a street party
Street parties are now being held at any time, for all ages, to build community spirit at the street level. They are a more relaxed affair with attendees asked to bring a dish to share or with a barbecue arranged.

Put on a film screening
Who doesn’t enjoy watching a great movie on a big screen with a tub of tasty popcorn? You can organise a film screening at a local school, church, community centre or even outside, under the stars. Choose to screen a recent blockbuster or go for an old classic and embrace a theme, like ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ with guests encouraged to come in fancy dress.

But don’t forget, under UK copyright law, if you are playing films outside your domestic or home circle, you will need to obtain a licence to do so (even for free of charge events and fundraisers).

Organise a pub quiz
A quiz night with general knowledge questions can appeal to a broad audience, or you can target particular groups by focusing on specialist subjects, such as football or music. Theming your quiz can also give it an extra edge; for example, how about holding one on Halloween with questions about horror films, along with spooky decorations to get everyone in the spirit!

The hardest part of holding a quiz night is inevitably writing the questions. If you research your own trivia on the internet, then be careful how you select the sites you choose to get the questions from. Do not just crib from the first list of horror movie facts you come across – your participants may well have been on the same website!

Gather a gardening gang
If there’s a green space in your community that has seen better days, why not organise a group of volunteers to restore it to its former glory? Digging out weeds, picking litter and planting flowers will transform it into something for all to enjoy and encourage people to take an active part in caring for their local area.

Or perhaps your child’s school has an area of unused playing field that could be put to better use? Approach the PTA about turning it into a vegetable patch with the help of parents and pupils, growing produce for school dinners while teaching the children about where food comes from.

Plan a Fireworks event

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Fireworks Night, otherwise known as Guy Fawkes’ Night or Bonfire Night, is a quintessentially UK celebration, marking the time that Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators didn’t blow up the Houses of Parliament on the 5th November.

It’s an obvious one of course, but if you’re hosting a Fireworks Night event, fireworks are a must! If
you don’t think you’ll feel safe running the display yourself, you could hire a company to come in and do it for you.

If you do tackle the display yourself, make sure you do so responsibly and safely, and adhere to Government safety rules. And with fireworks, must come sparklers too, so make sure you get plenty of these, as people do love them!

If you’re not looking to be as traditional as this, you could always have some of the masks of Guy Fawkes, that feature in the film V for Vendetta, or why not make a bonfire cake with a little Guy Fawkes on top?

Catering at events is important; mainly because it’s a great way of warming up the crowds with some hearty food. Serving jacket potatoes has always been a classic, but why not take this further with these shepherd’s pies, cooked in a baked potato shell?

Cooking a large dish of chilli is always a crowd pleaser and is easy to make in a big batch. Or why not consider cooking up some bangers with a bit of fire (keeping it on theme) by adding some chilli for chilli sausages?

Whilst hearty food may keep everyone warm, it’s worth making some visually pleasing treats that fit in with the theme of the night, like bonfire cakes, firework cookies and chocolate sparkle

There are different ways to approach Fireworks Night, whether you decide to go for something traditional, with traditional food and drink; or decide to go all-out and add a few twists and turns to surprise your guests, creating more of a spectacle. Whatever you do, make sure everyone is warm, cosy, safe and enjoying some of that autumnal fresh air!

The right music for every occasion

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We constantly consume music, whether we are aware of it or not, and we will end up in situations where we participate in subconscious listening every day.

We mostly think of music as pure entertainment, but marketers have been using it to influence our behaviour for decades. It’s a particularly prolific strategy in consumer goods industries, but the principles can easily be applied to the event industry.

This could be at the supermarket, with music playing over the loudspeakers, during TV ads or programmes, where music often sits in the background to augment a mood. It could also be at an event or conference, where there is either a live band or background music being played in the venue. All of this subconscious or inactive listening has an impact on how we behave.

Using the right type of music can potentially be very profitable, and as such there’s been a lot of research into exactly how different types of music affects behaviour within a specific environment. Certain types of music can make us move through a space faster, linger longer, change our perception of queue times or makes us spend more.

Unsurprisingly, fast paced music makes people move faster, and so does loud music. Slow music generally makes people slow down. It might be basic, but it’s an important factor in creating a specific mood for an event. Do you want people to be energised and buzzing, or relaxed and laid-back?

So if you’re putting on a race or sporting event, you’ll want to increase the volume and get some dance or rock music blasting out to energise your participants. However, if you’re running an exhibition and want people to linger and chat at stalls, you’ll probably want to opt for slower, softer sounds to keep the pace steady and encourage more conversations.

If you like to listen to music, like most of us, you will have experienced how it can impact your mood. This is something the media and marketers know how to take full advantage of. In addition to our emotional reactions, they also play on the associations we attach to different types of music.

Classical music might be thought of as sophisticated and classy, while Jazz might be thought of as artistic and refined. When putting these general assumptions to the test, several experiments show that playing specific music can impact perceptions too. For example, classical music can temporarily increase the perceived value of an item. In these situations, people projected some of the associations they had with classical music, e.g. sophistication, onto the item itself.

So for your next conference, maybe you want to welcome attendees with a spot of classical music, or introduce your keynote speaker with it playing in the background, inferring sophistication and intelligence on everyone in the room as well as your speakers.

Music for corporate events

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Music is an important element of any event, whether it’s in the form of a playlist, DJ or live performance. We’re not just talking about parties and product launches: conferences can benefit hugely from music.

It’s probably not the main type of event you associate with music, but entertainment during seminar breaks and background music played in exhibition areas are both popular choices.

To help you use music as effectively as possible at your next conference we have collated a list of the most popular songs, and will also talk you through how to use them to your advantage.

Using our pool of professional artists, we sent out a questionnaire to 1000 bands, DJs and acts asking if they had played at a conference in the last 18 months, which songs they played, and if any of the songs had been requested by the organisers.

Here are the Top 10 songs played at conferences

Happy – Pharrell Williams
Get Lucky – Daft Punk
Rather Be – Clean Bandit Ft. Jess Glynne
Treasure – Bruno Mars
You’ve Got the Love – Florence + the Machine
Forget You – Cee Lo Green
Sex on Fire – Kings of Leon
Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars
Locked Out of Heaven – Bruno Mars
Signed, Sealed, Delivered – Stevie Wonder

So, how can you use them to create a great atmosphere at your conference?

Live entertainment during breaks can be a good energy booster for conference attendees. Chart toppers like the ones in our ‘most played’ list can work well in this environment, and can easily be played over an in-house speaker system at a reasonable level.

Hiring a live band or DJ can really add something to your event. Stay clear of big sounds and opt for a smaller set-up, as delegates still need to be able to network and recharge for their next seminar.

Using music in large exhibition halls can be a great way of creating a good vibe. At the same time the room is likely to be very noisy from all the delegates networking with each other and talking to exhibitors. The latter of course, is exactly what you want.

Out of all the areas of your conference where you might add music, this is definitely where your delegates will be most relaxed, and might even venture out on the dance floor.

After parties are all about networking and having a really good time. This is also where the ‘most played list’ will feel most appropriate. You can have a superb party band or DJ who incorporates them into their usual setlists, or you could go for a more tailored option.

Shop Promotions

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Most shops always have the same monotonous music playing in the background so why not switch it up a bit and hire a DJ. The public will hear different music and will also experience first-hand a DJ playing live in a shop, now that’s not something you see every day. Get the DJ to play various styles of music to attract different types of customers but also make sure it suits your shop. If you have a unique boutique then trance music would not exactly match the surroundings. Your shop will have that wow factor compared to others around it so it is definitely worth a try!

Many businesses now enjoy and thrive off shop promotion. Whether it’s opening the shop for the first time or your first year anniversary shop promotions can attract new customers and keep existing customers. It can also help increase sales which is probably the most positive factor of all businesses. Shop promotion entertainment can help with every of these aspects… if done properly.

Street performers are a great idea to entice people of the street and into your shop. The performers will attract attention to the facade of the shop and can even hand out leaflets to the public. Once your street performer starts performing and letting everybody know about the shop, then how can the customers resist not going in for a little look. Various street performers could include stilt walkers, fire performers, dancers and even musicians. This is a very cost effective way to add excitement and positive chit chat around your shop.

Food is well known to be the way to anybody’s heart. So why not have some sort of unique catering outside your shop to attract customers to your front doors. A few ideas which are very simple yet very effective include hiring a fish and chip van for the day.

It could be packaged in a traditional box with your brand on it, so when your customers sit down to enjoy their food they are reminding on your company. During the summer months you could hire an ice cream van or cart and if they spend a certain amount in shop then on their exit they get an ice cream. It may be a simple idea but this can be very effective. To finish up, your shop just needs to be jazzed up a bit. Make it fun and intriguing and do your research. Don’t hire entertainment which doesn’t match your shops style. And shop around and hire local artists of possible, this will reflect very positively on your shop.

The best ways to hire a band

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Booking a band for any event can be tricky. What type of music, what size of band, and what price should you pay? These are the most common questions a person asks themselves when they have been given the task of hiring a band. Here are a few small things to look out for when booking a band so these are the 5 things to look out…

1. At the end of the day, you get what you pay for. So be realistic with your budget. A live 6 piece band would cost you between £800 – £1200 so if this is the size you would like, and then expect to pay the higher bracket of money. If you find a 6 piece band and they are charging less than this then as the saying goes, it is too good to be true!

2. Make sure that the band you are after fits your event and music style perfectly. Therefore if you are a corporate event organiser ensure that your band have had vast experience playing at corporate gigs. Same goes for weddings, birthday parties, award ceremonies etc. So always research the band’s past clients and this will be able to give you an insight into the band’s history.

3. Always sign a contract, you must of heard dreaded horror stories of bands. Whether it is the band hasn’t showed up at all, the band has double booked or the band has got a flat tyre and can’t make it to your event. Well this is why you need to sign a contract; if any of these unfortunate circumstances happen then at least you have the right to get your money back. So always ask for a contract and make sure that it covers you under all circumstances.

4.You should look for testimonials on Facebook pages, the band’s own website and even on online forums. Also ask friends and family if they have heard of any good bands in the local area. Word of mouth is one of the most powerful sources so use it, it is free!

5. If you have an event and need to hire a band within a 30 mile radius. This means you are not paying extravagant amounts of money for extra travel and most entertainers will have the first 30 miles free. Some bands will even charge £2 a mile, after you already pay for your band I’m sure that £100 for travel alone will just not be worth it. So source out some great local bands that will play the exact music you like without the crazy travel costs!