It’s easy to understand why every Bournemouth University student looks forward to the end of the year, but 7s festival, the air show and the beach are only the tip of the iceberg of summer in Bournemouth!

You’re probably thinking, well what makes summer so legendary in Bournemouth? I’ll tell you loud and clear: it’s SUBU’s Summerball. Not just any Summerball either, but a festival! We’ve seen it all at our Summerball: MK’s DJ set, Young T & Bugsey, My Nu Leng, DJ Fresh, Stormzy and Sigma, to name only a few… I’ve said the word three times now; you must be thinking this is important. It is. Sadly, I can only give you a flavour of what this legendary event is all about.

Preparation for the Summerball is the most important part of the whole event! If someone asked you to choose your favourite fancy dress theme, what would you pick? Would it be Baywatch? Zoo animals? The 90s? It’s hard to choose, isn’t it? That’s why the preparation is the most important part – this event lasts only one day of the year so your outfit has to be the best it can be!

Morning

The day starts off in the morning at about 8 or 9. My friends and I have breakfast and a couple of pints in one of the Wetherspoons in Bournemouth and prepare ourselves for the party pre-drinks before we go to the Summerball. We go in our costumes of course, because every other student in Spoons has the same idea and the room ends up looking rather colourful.

Then we head, slightly tipsy, to wherever the pre-drinks are and drink some more. Last year we went to my friend’s house in Winton, a town near to Bournemouth’s centre, and luckily it was a beautiful day so we had a party for a couple of hours in her garden. My friendship group dressed in Hawaiian skirts and shirts, which looked great!

Afternoon

At about 1pm, we get to the Old Fire Station to get a shuttle bus to the Summerball site. You never would’ve thought that queuing and then getting a 15-minute bus would be fun, but the atmosphere on the bus is nothing like I’ve ever experienced before! Everyone’s ready for a party!

Getting to the Summerball early is great since there are no queues to the entrance or the bars. When I said earlier that it’s like a festival, it really is! It’s huge, and has plenty of bars and music tents to choose from so you’ll never be bored – but it also makes finding your friends pretty difficult…

Evening

It gets better! There are loads of food stands for when you get hungry – burgers, pizza, noodles, you name it! There aren’t many places to sit but everyone sits on the floor anyway, so who cares.

Around this time, the music starts to pick up and the headliners start to perform, so it’s no doubt my favourite bit! It’s also the busiest part of the Summerball, which makes the atmosphere so great. Last year, Shy FX was by far the best performance I watched, and everyone else seemed to think so too since the tent was so full.

After the last performance finished around 12 or 1am, we had a go on a couple of the carnival rides (yes, there were rides) before heading home after our long day.

Afterparty

Just kidding! The day most certainly does not end there. At 2am the Old Fire Station opens for the afterparty. We get a shuttle bus back from the site and arrive at SUBU’s club ready to continue the night on until 4.30am!

Survivors

At around 4.30 the remaining partiers start walking to the beach, where the Survivors’ photo will be taken at 5. This photo really does distinguish who the real partiers are, because only a select few make it after such a long day. It’s a great way to finish the day, and a great way to start Bournemouth’s summer – on the beach watching the sunrise!

I bet you can’t make it to Survivors but you’ll have to prove me wrong… See you next year!