Travelling to space for 116 Pounds – Emmanuel May Ball tried to make it possible. After the obligatory queuing, guests were welcomed into the Sun: sparkling wine and oysters were served in the New Court. Overhead fairy lighting gave the court a celestial touch, but it clearly lacked the blazing heat of the bright star due to the chillier outside temperatures.

The planets of our solar system were included in the design of the ball in more or less original ways: Mars was in the Main Hall, where the CU Amateur Boxing Club gave a showfight. Venus was located in the Fellows’ Garden, where vodka and absinthe were served, and a shisha tent was set up to ‘lose yourself in Venus’ thick atmosphere’. The Moon offered a casino and dancing classes, which was converted into a hugely popular Silent Disco at 2am, to show both its ‘bright face’ and ‘the dark side’.

Other planet-attraction-matches were less winning: Why play mini golf and arcade games on Neptune? Saturn and swing boats? Comedy Shows in Halley’s Comet? Unfortunately, therefore, the theme was easy to be forgotten in many parts of the ball – despite the tasteful decorations, which were not entirely sufficient to convert the large grounds of Emmanuel College into something resembling outer space – an ambitious project to say the least.

Nevertheless Emmanuel College presented a May Ball of high quality which was appreciated by the guests. The main act, the French electro pop band ‘Yelle’ gave a well-attended, solid one-hour-gig. Several talented DJs made the bar into something between a club and a lounge ­– and a pub, as only cider and ale was served. Six hours of comedy, including acts such as magician Matt Le Mottée, Unexpected Items (‘Gap Yah’) and Oxford Imps were well received by the guests. Drinks and food were outstanding in their quality and variety: Freshly prepared pizza, doughnuts and crepes, moules-frites, sushi made queuing part of the May Ball experience. Instead of running out of food, though, the choices simply changed.

From the perspective of a guest, organisation seemed smooth. However, for a worker who spent four hours guarding a table of glasses of red wine and serving as a human doorstop, the May Ball seemed massively overstaffed. The half-on-half-off-system may be held responsible for this.

Emmanuel May Ball attempted to become celestial, but in the end it firmly remained on earth – being in the grips of a ‘traditional’ May Ball programme with only a few surprises and glimmers of originality. Despite the well-chosen theme, the (maybe too?) spacious college grounds failed to convey the atmosphere of ‘outer space’. The outstanding quality of food, drinks and entertainment showed that the Ball had a highly competent committee. If they had been more daring, they would have been able to create the atmosphere of truly being on another planet.