Despite the frenzied anti-alcohol sentiment swirling around political circles, the annual Castle Street Keg Party contradicted the assumption that all students are alcohol-guzzling machines. Although more than 2,300 people indicated on Facebook that they would be attending the event, which was held on Saturday July 14, general consensus is that the “keg party” ended up being a few quiet ones rather than the fist-pumping event that had been hoped for.
In the weeks leading up to the party there were indications that the event would be a desperado night full of bogans from out of town. One event organiser encouraged people to turn up, because “most years the Castle Street Keg Party is a flop. But cunts need to stop being dry cunts and make it happen”. Alas, these motivational words went unheeded. One student who did attend the event told Critic: “It was pretty dull. Everybody stayed inside their respective flats and not a lot happened.”
The Castle Street Keg Party does have some history of ruckus behaviour: five students were arrested at the 2010 keg party after starting couch fires. Nowadays, however, the Castle Street Keg Party can best be described as the poor man’s Hyde Street.
While Castle Street was nothing to rave about, OUSA’s Re-O Week events were generally successful in getting the student atmosphere back up and running. Although attendance was poor for both the Ladyhawke and Kora gigs, they provided an opportunity for students to see the revamped Union up close. In contrast to past years, this year’s Re-O Week attendees were generally well behaved, which goes to show that students can in fact consume alcohol without burning rotting couches and ending up in the Proctor’s office.
Castle Street Residents Fail at Keg Party, Life in General
