Students to host their own alternative Summer Ball and you’re invited

A group of Sussex students have banded together to plan and host a party night coming 28th April. The group has included student societies and event organisers all around Brighton to make sure students have a event to send off their crazy year.

The idea came from students who were pretty peeved off over the recent decision to cancel the university’s joint Summer Ball and decided to host an event themselves. The event is to be held at the Synergy Centre on West Street.

The event, named ‘Summer Synergy’, aims to bring together students from both Brighton and Sussex to show that they can truly collaborate and not be tarred with any negative brush.

The name of the event is a play on both the venue’s name and students coming together. Quite smart eh?

Whilst not a ball in the traditional sense, ‘Summer Synergy’ is to be the party to bring the students of Sussex together that the cancelled Summer Ball was supposed to do.

The Synergy Centre also works alongside local community charities and will be raising money during the event.

URF, BassSoc, Inna Sound, Lost Spectrum, and Sounds of South will all be working together to set up a huge event at the large capacity Synergy Centre on West Street. Speaking to the organisers, the main ethos was to form a community of students to put the university in a good light compared to the conflict at Varsity. The main idea is to show that students are more than just conflict but can work together to host a sick event.

Inside one of the rooms of the Synergy Centre

‘Summer Synergy’ will run at the same time as the Student Media Awards as a after-party venue. The venue is also licensed from 6pm-2am with bars, music, and plenty of extras that are currently in the works. Photo booths, carnival games, and face painting are a few things that have been discussed however the team are completely open to ideas. After all, they’re students like you.

The student organisers have grouped talented students across the university to all contribute in running the event. Student DJs and media students will be using their talents to put on a very decent gig. Many of the students performing have hosted club events before with some already signed onto record labels. Whilst still early in development, the music is assumed to be mainly a mix of house, garage, electronic, and a bit of D&B thrown in for good measure.

Talks are currently going ahead about whether two or all three rooms should be used to provide a much wider variety of music potentially including live bands.

Local student clubbing app and event group, Radar, are also getting involved with promotion and coverage for the event. A spokesman for Radar commented:

“As soon as we heard about this event, it sounded like something we were really keen to be involved with. Really looking forward to seeing it take shape over the next few weeks”

Sussex SU have also been providing some help but are not officially affiliated.

However, other groups have jumped on board and will be officially helping out with the event.

Lost Spectrum regularly feature at Volks Nightclub. The group focuses on the underground music scene and bring in considerable crowds when they host club nights.

Sussex Bass Society formed at Sussex University in 2010. Since then, they have amassed a decent following with many members who both produce music and DJ. The student society mainly focuses on D&B and garage.

URF, the official student radio of Sussex University, will be making an appearance. Many of the members, including station manager Fin Evans, have been DJing for a long time and have been performing at club events all around the UK – and some international too. They will be hosting a few sets during the night.

Innasound will be providing the sound system for the night. It will not be the first time they have performed in the Synergy Centre, visiting only a few weeks ago. The system will sure to get the party pumping.

Finally, Sounds Of South will be in attendance. You may have seen them at MONO a few times but they will be helping out with ‘Summer Synergy’ this time.

You’ve probably seen these stickers around

Whilst these groups have been confirmed, many other event groups around Brighton have also showed an interest to either perform or help with the planning.

It is still early days yet, but we can safely say that we are pretty excited. Thank god we have something to look forward to in these upcoming months.

Students are encouraged to reach out with any ideas for the event.

Tickets will be on sale soon, you can visit the event on Facebook here.