80s chic. A trip down memory lane…

Natasha Whiting,

Our 1980s fairground inspired corporate event has got us in a reminiscing mood

We’re singing Wham songs into our hairbrushes, back combing our hair and digging out our electric blue eyeliner. Oh, how we loved it when the fair came to town!  Such an electric buzz (probably from all that nylon and satin we wore) when the first flyers were pasted to the side of the chippy…

Dressed up to the nines in our CHOOSE LIFE T shirts, a wannabe cross between Madonna and Boy George. Stinking of Impulse and cigarette smoke, we would meet, en masse, at dusk on the first night of the fair.  The music, sounds and smells all creating a platform for socialising (and snogging) new friends and showing off on the dodgems in a sort of David Atinborough wildlife documentary style.

Anyway, enough of the trip down memory lane.  Some things are best forgotten after all, and we like to think we’ve grown up (a bit) since those days even if there is still a place in our hearts for that tight-jeans wearing, mullet sporting lad who spun your Waltzer car that little bit too fast…

We’ve had great fun cherry-picking the very best of 1980s fairground (yes, yes, yes to Amii Stewart; no, no, no to Agadoo) and have created a wonderfully glamorous, humour infused, nostalgic event full to bursting with evocative sights, smells and sounds.  We still love hotdogs – proper, gourmet hotdogs, served New York style with onions and mustard.  Candy floss on sticks infused with edible glitter, rainbow drops and popping candy and not all of the music was that bad.  Neon cocktails, lots of neon cocktails and with that in mind here is May’s cocktail. Famously drunk by Madonna…..  THE cocktail of the 1980s.

INGREDIENTS

Ice
1 1/2 ounces citrus-flavored vodka
1/2 ounce triple sec (Cointreau, preferably)
1/2 ounce cranberry juice
1/4 ounce lime juice (fresh, fresh, fresh; no Rose’s)
Orange twist, for garnish
What to do:

Mix the citrus vodka, cranberry juice, Cointreau, lime juice. (Cointreau provides a cleaner taste than cheaper triple sec, and is really the only option for your Cosmo. Remember, the cranberry juice is for colour and should not dilute your drink!

Use a lemon twist to garnish by all means, or, more traditionally, use a smallish round of orange – it should be “flamed” across the top of your Cosmo, coating it in a lovely slick of citrus oil.  But a wedge of lime will do too..  but never a cherry (bleugh) and really, keep the cranberry juice to a minimum. Your Cosmo should be pink, not puce….and should be shaken not stirred….and taste a little tart just like the 80s did.

Making sure that each of the Festival in a Box events is unique is thirsty work! We suggest you sip your Cosmo and shimmy, shimmy away to these sounds…

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