It's time to raid your closet for your best flapper dress, sparkling jewelry, top hats and suspenders. If you’re looking for an excuse to wear your best 1920s-themed outfit, now's your time because for the first time in four years, CPB’s Dance of the Decades is back on Friday, Feb. 23 at the Leftbank Annex from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Tickets are available for students online through Eventbrite and are being sold for $5. Guest tickets are also available for purchase in person at any of CPB’s tabling events for $15. Timing for tabling will be posted on their Instagram.
With the purchase of a ticket CPB is providing an extra incentive — the announcement of the Rock the Bluff artist. Each year this announcement causes excitement amongst the student body and CPB viewed this occasion as the perfect opportunity for students to find out. If the artist announcement wasn't enough to convince you to buy a ticket they are also entering every ticket holder into a raffle for a chance to meet the artist.
The dance, which began in 1975, took a brief hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. CPB is excited to bring the classic UP tradition back in 2024. This year's chosen decade is the 1920s, but students are encouraged to come dressed up in any decade of their choosing.
“We really want to make it accessible to everyone,” Vondenkamp said. “So we're not doing a strict semi-formal dress code, but we are encouraging people to dress up, if they want, to wear a cute cocktail dress or a suit or any formal wear. But we're not requiring it.”
Elephants Delicatessen will be catering the dance and all food will be completely free of charge. For students 21 and up, there will also be a cash-only bar for fun drinks.
Transportation is free as well. Buses and security checks will be on campus and are the only way to get to the venue. The buses will arrive at 8:45 p.m. outside of Buckley Center and Dundon Berchtold Hall. CPB predicts that with 12 buses rotating throughout the night, a new bus will load every 10 to 15 minutes. Last call for buses will be at 12:45 a.m.
This will be CPB’s first event of the spring semester, followed by Rock the Bluff in late March. Vondenkamp thinks this is the perfect opportunity to get free food, dress up and get on the dance floor with friends.
“Spring semester is so busy,” Vondenkamp said. “It's important to have times where you just focus on making memories with friends, and this is a $5 way to go to a beautiful venue and dress up if you want.”
Netty Jurriaans is the Community Engagement Editor for The Beacon. She can be reached at jurriaan25@up.edu.
