The Murray Edwards College Garden Party Committee chose to have, “carnival,” as their theme for this year. While I thought this was a dubious choice and had little confidence the MECGP committee (or any other student committee for that matter) could deliver on such a promise for its guests, I can now agree that this was the best choice they could have made. From the wide range of drinks available (of which there was plenty) to the hog roast and the exciting selection of entertainments available throughout the garden party it is clear that the MECGP committee marvelously executed a difficult theme to cater to their guests’ every whim and wish.

The extended catering extended to the range of drinks available which varied greatly in both flavor and alcohol content. Following on from the disappointment at several garden parties on Saturday where the drinks ran out well before the end, the MECGP committee could certainly boast having had enough alcohol for all their guests for the entire duration of the garden party and enough drink for the workers of the garden party to enjoy at the end once all the guests had left. What was slightly less impressive, though, was a limited selection of non-alcoholic drinks offered by the committee for guests who could not consume alcohol for medical, religious or whatever reasons.

The queues for food and entertainment were very reasonable and guests were served with speed so that they could proceed to enjoy the rest of the night’s entertainments. Same as with drinks; the food was served throughout the garden party and one could have easily gone for a second or even a third serving of the delicious hog roast. For dessert there was plenty of ice-cream and as many flavors as one could realistically ask for. The chocolate and cream strawberry mix ran out, as I was in the queue to my great disappointment, but I’m aware they restocked very quickly and began serving guests soon after I left (we can’t have everything I guess – bad luck gets in the way). I did however get to try the crêpes that did not disappoint. Again there seemed however to be a slight lack of vegeterian and gluten free food which mirrored the same problem with the drinks.

As for entertainment, the live band was great; it got people relaxed, enjoying themselves and dancing for most of the garden party. This was coupled by an extraordinary series of attractions ranging from a shisha corner for those amongst us with oriental tastes to a bouncy castle, a tie dye t-shirt corner where guests got to make their own t-shirts, socks and even old ladies pants, henna and even a message corner if things got a bit too much for some of the guests.

Overall, excellent planning and organization from a committee that clearly knows how to throw a party.