Festival preview - pages 28-28
Cashing in on Banksy - page 14
Joan Bakewell interview page 8
Issue 275 Monday 12th May 2014 www.epigram.org.uk University of Bristol Independent Student Newspaper
It’s official: UBU has no balls Stephanie Rihon Online News Editor After weeks of build up, the UBU Summer Ball has been cancelled due to a lack of ticket sales. The second annual union ball was due to take place on 6th June at Ashton Court. In a recent press release, the union said that ‘Wonderland’ would include four bars, three music areas, a cabaret tent, fire performers and a finale firework show to name but a few of its attractions. There was also going to be a special section for upcoming graduates such as a Grad Hatter’s Tea Party. UBU said ‘we explored all other options before making this difficult decision but ultimately felt that it was better to cancel the event than deliver an event which was substantially different to what was advertised’. Last year, the UBU circus-themed ball had backlash as guests claimed the union had misleading advertising by pitching it as a black tie event which eventually felt more like a festival. Nevertheless, 2,711 tickets were sold and the circus themed event went ahead. Rob Griffiths, UBU President, said ‘obviously it’s disappointing that we’ve had to cancel and we’re sorry that students did not want to come. We planned the event with students to ensure it would appeal to the larger student body but ticket sales on events of this size are always hard to predict. I’m keen that the union remains committed to organising successful events in the future.’
Markéta Brabcová
Philip Bruland
Thousands turned out to see Luke Jerram’s water slide become a reality
UBU took the decision to cancel the ball now in order for people to ‘have the maximum time possible to make other arrangements’. However, those who did have tickets have been left outraged as they have been left with no end of year celebration and try to look for alternatives. Some took to Twitter to voice their anger and express their disappointment with the union. The union continued to labour the point that they had ‘conducted research’ to ‘gauge the opinion of fellow students’. However, it seems that this research was not successful in creating an event that students wanted to attend. Battle of the Bands winners Carthade, who regularly perform at Bristol’s Fringe and other venues in London were due to play at the event. Carthade’s frontman Oli Higginson commented that the band ‘were a little surprised at the ball’s cancellation since it seemed pretty organised’ but thought ‘one of the main problems was trying to please too many people in one single event which stopped the whole thing in its tracks.’ Goldney Ball suffered the same fate last year when their annual summer event was also cancelled. Goldney’s event was seven years strong and usually the highlight of the season for students, but last year, competition from the union ball and low ticket sales led to its cancellation. This year will see Goldney stage a downscaled summer event for current residents of the hall. All UBU ball tickets, which were £45 each, will be refunded and a separate email notification has been sent to ticket holders.
#makethempay
Full report on this year’s industrial action - page 4
Standards are slipping: catch up on Bristol’s Park and Slide on page 7