Cambridge University Student Newspaper Celebrates Irvin Leisure At Famous May Balls
Next week, students at the University of Cambridge will be celebrating the end of their exams with some of the most exclusive and famous parties in the world: the May balls. Irvin Leisure is honoured to be supplying fairground rides and attractions to many of these prestigious events, just as we have been doing since the 1960s. We’ve brought the magic to May balls at almost every college including Trinity, St John’s, Peterhouse, Magdalene, Jesus, Queens’, Christ’s, Clare, Caius, Corpus Christi, Darwin, Downing, Pembroke, Hughes Hall, Emmanuel, St Catharine’s and Sidney Sussex – not to forget Trinity Hall June Event, King’s Affair, Selwyn Snow Ball and Girton Spring Ball!
This year, journalist Wilf Vall from the Cambridge University student newspaper Varsity interviewed George Irvin, Benny Irvin and team member Zoah Hedges-Stocks about the May Balls and what it is like to be involved with these historic celebrations. You can read the full article here.
Whilst these champagne-soaked black-tie affairs may look rather refined on the face of it, hidden behind those beautiful cloisters you’ll find silent discos, laser shows, legendary DJs such as ShyFX and big name headliners like Kelis – and funfair rides! We like to help students relive their younger days when we bring carousels, dodgems and ferris wheels to the ancient courts of the colleges.
As George says, “there is something really special about Cambridge and May Week. It’s like nowhere else! I feel like we’re a good fit for Cambridge because our community really values tradition and history”.
Why is it called May Week when it happens in June?
May Week is a whirlwind of college balls and garden parties that originally sprung up around the college boat races on the Cam, known as ‘bumps’.
The name ‘May Week’ is a hangover from when the ‘bumps’ were held in May just before exams started. With the athletics out of the way, students were expected to then crack on with the serious business of preparing for their tests. However, in 1882, the bumps and the parties that had sprung up around them were sensibly moved so that the revelry could take place after exams – a decision that we at Irvin Leisure wholeheartedly applaud.
What does May Week have to do with funfairs?
May Week often coincides with Cambridge Midsummer Fair, a charter fair held on the eponymous Midsummer Common that is actually even older than the University of Cambridge! Wilf’s article goes into detail about the fascinating history of this fair, which recieved its charter over 800 years ago in 1211. Many centuries later, during the Swinging Sixties, a bright spark had the idea to combine the fun of the fair with the student soirees, and we were booked for our first May Ball. Since then, we’ve become the industry experts at supplying rides to college balls in Cambridge and beyond.
To find out how to get funfair rides at your ball, visit our ball ride hire page. To read the Varsity article in full, visit varsity.co.uk
