Tag Archives: best

Summer Garden Parties

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If the weather holds out this summer, you might be considering a traditional garden party. Red Masque has put together its top 5 list of summer garden party entertainment ideas for something with vocals and a touch of the familiar, how about a Swing Jazz band – often playing Rat Pack, Sinatra, Michael Bublé and Jamie Cullum. Unlike a Dixie band, they will need electricity for their amplification, but they can tone the volume to suit a garden party just fine.

Strapped for space? Try a duo, this is the easiest type of act to accommodate and makes more of a visual statement than a solo artist alone.

Steel drum band music stems from the Caribbean with a mixture of Calypso, Latin, Reggae, Pop, and Rock n’ Roll. Steel bands bring the Caribbean to your doorstep!

Traditionally, a string quartet gives recitals of works by the classical masters, but more recently has diversified into a more popular repertoire which includes pop, jazz, folk and ragtime. String quartets are ideal for summer garden parties. As they are generally acoustic (they require no amplification or electricity), they are portable and can change location during your event.

Whether it’s Giant Jenga, Giant Wii Sport, Giant Table Football or Giant Operation – Giant Games is the fun way to enhance your big event with a fantastic range of games for all ages!

For a lively garden party with plenty of dancing, a Salsa band is the ideal addition. Salsa encompasses a variety of rhythmic styles and musical forms. Think Rio Carnival, the Caribbean, South America and Latin Jazz. With Salsa music, the rhythm is infectious and the costumes colourful. Many acts can also include Salsa dance instruction as part of their package.

A few things to consider when organising entertainment for a summer garden party.

Electricity – some acts don’t need electricity as they play acoustic instruments, and are therefore easier to move around the garden. Any act with vocals, electric guitars or keyboards will need electricity and you’ll need to ensure a safe supply.

Cover – in case of bad weather (or even in case of full sun) most musical acts will need a provision of cover such as a gazebo or marquee.

Noise – make sure you warn the neighbours if you book a band later in the evening, as you won’t want the police turning up and dampening the mood.

Lawn Protection – as the musicians will likely be moving around on one small spot of garden, if the ground is at all damp it would be wise to cover the lawn in that area. A ground sheet would be fine, but even better, you can buy “ground protection mats” from places like Homebase. For a small band you’ll need to cover roughly 3 x 3 metres

LED entertainment

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Let’s be honest, when you hire entertainment for an event, you want the act to be visual, something which nobody has ever seen before and which nobody will forget in a hurry. And if it looks great in photos? Well, that’s a plus too. Bearing all that in mind, it’s no wonder than people love acts with a lot of lights and LEDs.

Circus

Circus come with the normal jugglers etc.. but now some circus acts come with LED acts too, with hypnotic juggling skills across an immaculately choreographed show more than enough to recommend them. LED Hula Hoops will also wow you, this time with hoops rather than LED batons. Incidentally, with these acts, all of the LEDs can be pre-programmed to show a company logo. the Light Stilt Walkers are a stunning and serene light act, which utilises a rainbow of colour to great effect. Feeling peckish? Why not head to the LED Canapé Girls.

Dance

Everybody dance now! You’ll certainly be wanting to after first looking at the Light Dancers, who are another LED act that provide an elegant atmosphere to any party. A lot less elegant though are Neon, who are like a cross between Britain’s Got Talent winners Diversity and cult 1980s film, TRON.

Music

LEDs aren’t really seen that much in our musical acts to hire but they do appear occasionally! An LED dance band are perhaps the best example of this, with each member of the band wearing vibrant costumes, with LED strips carefully placed across their instruments.

History themed events

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Who doesn’t love a bit of history? When it comes to themed parties, many people tend to pick something based on a television show, film or book series. They might even theme it around the current time of year or something that’s currently in the news. But why not have more historical parties? History themed events can be great fun and here we’ll run through a couple of good ideas to get you up and running.

Location, location, location

It’s no good holding your historical party in a venue that doesn’t suit what you’re aiming for. Sure, you could probably hold your event in the local village hall but it doesn’t exactly scream Henry VIII and grandiose, does it? What we’re trying to say is that it doesn’t really scream ‘ye olde’ when it was built in the 1970s. No, what you need is to hire a venue for your event that actually has a bit of history to it! We’re thinking Historical Royal Palace Hampton Court Palace, Banqueting House or even the British Museum, which has a fine catalogue of ancient items nestled within its walls. So if you want to go historical, start with the setting.

Costumes

We know that not all people like fancy dress, deeming it to be a lot of effort compared to just turning up in your work clothes. But not every event has a historical theme affixed to it! Costumes are a must if you want to take guests back in time properly and if you’re really wanting to make your party stand out, why not hire costumed characters to complete the look? Coming with astonishingly detailed costumes that make for fabulous photos, we provide actors who can play anyone from history be it a poor peasant worker through to royalty!Don’t forget to hire a costume for yourself as well.

Royal Footmen and Jesters

Well it’d hardly be a historical affair without some form of comedy would it? The royals famously enjoyed being entertained at their banquets by many a fool and you can recreate this by hiring royal footmen or jesters to add to the flavour of your historically themed event. They don’t just meet and greet either; the jesters are able to perform on stilts, entertain with incredible acrobatics too.

Lutists

It Isn’t really a party if you don’t have music now, is it? We acknowledge that the idea of long summer nights is now a couple of months behind us, but that’s no excuse not to have some form of olde entertainment front and centre for guests to enjoy. Be they providing background music or a short and intimate show, lutists are sure to impress. With full regalia as standard, you’ll almost certainly believe that you have gone back in time.

A Private Detective event

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Are you a fan of Sherlock Holmes or do you love a good detective series? Whichever person you are; you’ll still love our fabulous ideas to create an un-missable Sherlock Holmes party theme.

CSI

This game basic format allows for a variety of guests to ultimately solve a crime through a variety of teambuilding activities. Do you have what it takes to be a resident of 221b Baker Street or are you resigned to simply writing about the case in a style of Rd. Watson?

Violinist

Aside from cracking crimes, Sherlock Holmes is also known for his love of music, in particular gazing out at London’s clientele whilst playing a good old-fashioned violin. a violinist will no doubt go down a storm at your Sherlock party.

Costumed Character

Now what about putting that violinist into a costume? We can see it now. Deerstalker hat? Pipe? Whether you’re thinking the old fashioned version of Sherlock Holmes or the new Benedict Cumberbatch infused creation, we’re more than confident that tweed will get a look in. But which other characters should be present? Rd. Watson? Mrs. Hudson? An appearance from Moriarty wouldn’t go amiss either.

Silhouette Artist

These amazing silhouette artists can even cut in various props should you desire them. So yes, every guest could be posing with a Sherlock themed prop if you so wanted! All that’s required is paper, scissors and a little time to stand still and your guests can go home with a wonderful original prop to remind them of the evening!

Eyecon Art

Eyecon Art is one of the coolest new acts on the entertainment events circuit. Sitting down with your guests, a photographer will take a photo of your eye, which you can then be sent at a later date. Now in terms of looking for clues, it’s all about seeing the bigger picture…and who hasn’t seen a famous drawing of Sherlock Holmes with a magnifying glass to his eye?

If you’re holding a Sherlock Holmes party or have been inspired by some of the various acts, then do have a look on our website to inspire you even more!

Bring the community together

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Local events are a great way to bring communities closer together. Whether you want to raise funds for a worthy cause, bring about positive change in your area, celebrate something special or simply get to know your neighbours, a community event will help rally the masses.

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 10 tried and trusted ideas for community events that should help get everyone together.

1. 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.

2. 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.

On the other hand, if you have a message to get across or are marking a particular occasion you can choose a relevant movie i.e. ‘The Dam Busters’ to commemorate Remembrance Day or ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ to raise awareness about living with cancer.

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).

3. 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!

4. 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.

5. Hold a swap shop

Holding a swapping event can have both social and environmental benefits for your community. Not only does it minimise the number of unwanted items going to landfill, it also helps those in need – according to official statistics, there are 4 million children in the UK living in households that cannot afford to replace worn out or broken furniture and electrical items.

A swap shop is a cashless local event where people exchange unwanted items for something they do want. Not everyone needs to bring something – the more takers the better it will mean you will have very little left over at the end.

You may choose to have an event at a specific venue or simply a day when everyone puts their unwanted items out on the street and anyone can take what they want.

Just remember to notify the local council first and arrange for the anything not claimed to be taken to a local charity shop or furniture reuse organisation afterwards.

6. Organise an arts & crafts festival

In every community there are budding artists and craft enthusiasts that you could bring together by creating your own arts & crafts festival.

The term arts & crafts covers such a magnitude of different disciplines, that there really isn’t anything stopping you setting up stalls selling anything you want; from pottery to water colours, knitted wear to jewellery, there’ll be something for everyone to buy.

7. Use a themed 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?

8. 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.

Use the seasons to your advantage to entice people to see your performance. Everyone loves getting into the Christmas Spirit around December, so why not perform ‘A Christmas Carol’? Or you could make use of a nearby forest or gardens to perform ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ when the summer months are here.

9. 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 the 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!

10. Fireworks / Bonfire Night

Fireworks always brings in the crowds. There is something about lighting up the sky that just amazes people. Add a bonfire to the equation and you have a perfect winter event. Serve hearty food like jacket potatoes, with a hot chocolate (maybe a Baileys hot chocolate for the adults) and you’ll keep the crown fed, watered, and more importantly, warm!

You may be limited to using fireworks to certain nights of the year like Guy Fawkes Night and New Year’s Eve, but there isn’t anything stopping you having your own bonfire night with all the added activities to go with it, like lighting sparklers and toasted marshmallows.

Music to use at your corporate event

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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 for hire, 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 last season:

Sex on Fire – Kings of Leon
Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars
Locked Out of Heaven – Bruno Mars
Signed, Sealed, Delivered – Stevie Wonder
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 – CeeLo Green

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

Break entertainment

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.

Here, a live band or DJ can really add something to your conference. 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.

Music in exhibition halls

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.

After parties

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 set-lists, or you could go for a more tailored option.

Does your team fancy a stunt day?

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So, you’ve smashed your boss over the head with a bottle and shot him, only for him to get up, laugh, and shake your hand. You’re not dreaming, you’re in stunt training. You’ve watched bar room brawls, shootings and spectacular stunts in films and been dazzled by their realism. Now you will be trained by the men responsible for those stunts at the legendary Pinewood Studios, where the James Bond films and countless other blockbusters are filmed.

Yes, you could hire Stuntmen instructors and props to really make this a unique a fun day for all. After a full safety briefing and a warm up, the instructors will give a full demonstration of the stunts before training you to recreate them. Just like on a real film set, safety is paramount, and all of the stunts take place in controlled environments with the instructors supervising. You’ll be taught how to shoot blanks from pistols and revolvers, and how to fall realistically after being shot. There’s no need to worry about bruises though as your fall will be broken by safety mats.

You will also be taught how to smash a bottle over someone’s head without leaving so much as a scratch on them. This brilliant training day will live long in the memory and give you a fascinating insight into the film industry.

A brilliant day, and definitely unique, we are sure your staff will be talking about this in months to come.

Don’t forget to take your DVD home of all your stunts that you have done for the day!!

The Generation Game

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The Generation Game was part of British Saturday night television for many years, the Generation Game is a fun filled interactive event. This ultimate day of games, quizzes, and challenges will have your group in fits of riotous laughter and mayhem!

Imagine your colleagues competing to decorate their very own cake in the style of ‘The Great British Bake Off’ while others try to outdo each other in table cloth whipping! And for trivia boffins the events proceedings kick off with a quiz and rounds off with a memory challenge.

The Generation Game could be run during the day or for evenings (between courses of a meal or after-dinner entertainment.) Each round could be presented by a professional compere, all of whom come from a comedic background to make sure your event is filled with laughter. Groups of between 8 and 10 compete head-to-head, with each round designed to include every member of the team. After each round you will present the famous ‘scores on the doors’ so teams can see where they sit on the leader board.

Party Game ideas.

How well can you guestimate?
21 second challenges
Great British Bake Off – Cake decorating
Whippit- whip the table cloth away from a set dining table
Conveyer belt
What are the benefits of this team building exercise?

Laughter Guaranteed
Professional comedic host
Rounds to appeal to everyone
Real back to school childish fun
Can run during the day or evening
Something completely crazy and different
Prizes for the winning team

This event will please the most serious of people and get them to show their true fun side!

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!!

Best-selling songs of the 2000s

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If you hire a party and function band for an event and they can play most of these then you should be certain of convincing a large crowd to the dancefloor.

1. Happy – Pharrell Williams

With 1,813,000 copies of Happy sold, you’d probably expect a function band to play this song from 2013.

2. Anything is Possible/Evergreen – Will Young

You might find it a little harder to find a function band that have this Will Young classic in their repertoire even though it sold 1,790,000 copies in 2002. That being said, if you’re looking for a band or a solo singer to play this hit then you can always request it, thereby making sure that your wedding or party is as special as it can possibly be.

3. Blurred Lines – Robin Thicke feat. T.I. and Pharrell Williams

To be involved on two of the top three best-selling songs of the 21st century must bring in a pretty packet and this one sold 1,630,000 copies. Alas, when it comes to this song, the writers were forced to shell out a lot of profits to Marvin Gaye’s estate. Even so, it’s a song that is sure to have people on their feet and dancing and we know of a good number of bands who can sing it.

4. Someone Like You – Adele

Is there a better song to sing when you’re thoroughly on course to drink the bar dry? We think not. Adele is a hugely popular star and this song in particular is requested by huge amounts of clients. Perhaps more popular with bands who specialise in ballads, we still think you’ll have no problem finding this in an act’s repertoire.

5. Moves Like Jagger – Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera

If you’ve ever wanted to dance and sing along to having the moves like a famous Rolling Stone, then this is the song for you. It’s probably our favourite on the subject. Maroon 5’s song is a proper dance floor filler. Interestingly, this is the only song on this list that never reached number 1 despite spending 64 weeks on the chart.

6. Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars

Do you remember when this song was everywhere? You could barely escape it even after turning off the radio because your flatmate would be singing it through the walls.

7. Somebody That I Used to Know – Gotye feat. Kimbra

We haven’t heard it a lot recently but if you request it, we’re certain it’s probably etched in the recesses of the minds of any party function band.

8. Wake Me Up – Avicii

Swedish DJ Avicii may have retired but his music lives on in the form of this fab hit from 2013. Wake Me Up has to be slightly tweaked for function bands to play it – it is a song by a DJ after all – but it works brilliantly when played live and various corporate events and parties have been seen dancing to this throughout the last few years.

9. I Gotta Feeling – The Black Eyed Peas

Tonight’s gonna be a good night if you hire a function band who can play this classic from 2009. Considering just how big a hit Where is the Love? was, it might be somewhat surprising to find that this is the one that makes the top 10. Not every function band has it currently in their repertoire but like Somebody That I Used to Know, it’s fair to assume that they’ll be able to play it if asked.

10. Get Lucky feat. Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers

The drinks are on Pharrell! Three songs in the top ten?! A huge hit from 2013, Get Lucky has amassed 1,436,000 purchases and continues to be popular at events today. A perfect hit for the summer, we’re pretty confident that it’ll be played by at least one band at one of our events in the next week. If we’re wrong, we’d be very surprised!