Valentine’s Ball Leaves Union Broken Hearted

The Cambridge Union have been forced to cancel their Valentine’s Ball as a result of low ticket sales.

The Queen of Hearts themed Valentine’s Ball promised: “the caterpillar’s shisha tent, the mad hatter’s tea party, the Queen of Hearts’ casino [and] the flamingo croquet lawn”, as well as a performance from Youtube celebs Axis of Awesome.

But unusually low ticket sales forced the Union to rethink the event, which is traditionally the main annual ball held by the Union.

Instead, they plan to host a more informal One Night Stand event, still featuring Axis of Awesome.

Union President Lauren Davidson told The Tab that the cancellation wasn’t necessarily bad, saying: “Change is a good thing and we want to be responsive to our members.”

Davidson told The Tab she thought the slow tickets sales could be a result of the large number of balls happening this year.

“We held the Winter Ball for the first time last term and it was really successful, but we didn’t think about how it would affect the Valentine’s Ball.

“We also had the MedSoc Ball here just the other week.”

Churchill Spring Ball is similarly just the day before the Valentine’s Ball was due to happen.

Union member Jennifer Kerrison, a 2nd year Spanish and Education student from Homerton, agreed: “It’s a shame they’ve had to change it but they’re probably right about there being too many balls.

“I think my friends and I might go to One Night Stand anyway.”

Responding to demand, Union Secretary James Abbott-Thompson said the new event would be: “a more relaxed experience”, as well as being considerably cheaper. Tickets for the Valentine’s Ball were priced at £35 for members and £45 for non-members, but tickets for One Night Stand are just £8 for members and £10 for non-members.

Davidson added: “People are getting pretty much the same thing but we’ve taken away the word ‘ball’, the free drinks and the casino.”

Tickets for One Night Stand can be purchased here.