Illuminating Blackpool
Wednesday, July 11, 2007 
I am currently in Blackpool, sussing out venues for a Forest/Free Society event at the 2007 Conservative party conference. (Next week I will be in Bournemouth, doing the same for this year's Labour conference.) We arrived last night - fresh from sunny Cambridgeshire - to be greeted by rain, wind and brown choppy waves crashing on the beach.
Last year, at the Tory conference in Bournemouth, we hosted a speakeasy-themed prohibition party that attracted 400 people with hotel staff having to turn others away for reasons of "health and safety". By all accounts it was the best fringe event of the year. According to the Financial Times:
In addition to tobacco smoke, the air was thick with warnings about further restrictions on drinking and eating. Guests swilled down champagne and Kalashnikov vodka and guzzled "politically incorrect canapes" - not for those with high cholesterol.
Ranald Macdonald, founder of the Boisdale restaurants where cigar smoking is encouraged, declared his opposition to the ban - and was promptly arrested by three improbable-looking policemen. But there are still battles to be won if the Tories are really to be the party of liberty, according to Forest, the pro-smoking campaign that co-sponsored the evening."
So, a hard act to follow. The major problem this year is finding a venue that is 'smoker-friendly' - and legal. In practice this means finding a room in a prime conference location that offers direct access to a smoking area. It's not perfect but we think we've found one. Sadly - given the limitations of budget and location - the scale of the event will be very much smaller than last year's production, so we will try to be even more inventive. Watch this space.
Events
Reader Comments (4)
Simon,
nice last comment on the Charles Kennedy "Name and Shame" article. I assume there is no form of moderation here?
Good luck with finding a decent venue.
Forget it , I see it's repeating on other threads.
Your perfect event would begin with a coach trip to Bolton...
Good luck in finding a venue as most of them are no smoking do not forget to nipinto the Happy Bar on Rigby Road and give Mr Howitt your full susport on defying the smokers ban