A pub landlady hosted a special end-of-term celebration for young Taylor Swift fans who missed out on concert tickets.
There was music, a bar serving mocktails, Taylor Swift face mask props and friendship bracelet-making stations at The New Calley Arms in Wanborough for the midweek party on July 25 and 26.
Pub owner Barbara Lockwood runs the venue with her family and they all pitched in with decorating, running the bar, cooking food on the BBQ and organising the music, with her grandson as security stamping guests in and out.
She said: “It was actually inspired by my granddaughter Priya - she's nine and she’s absolutely Taylor Swift obsessed - and the idea came from a conversation in the car with my sister.
“It’s too expensive to go to the concerts and there’s a limit on the amount of tickets you can get too, which is a shame because parents can’t afford to take them. I know many kids were desperate to go, so we’re having the concert here instead.
“I’ve been the owner here for 10 years, it’s a family affair and we host the events and private parties together. We’ve never done anything like this with kids and definitely nothing as crazy as this before, but the kids are just swiftie mad. I woke up this morning and thought ‘what have I done’ but they love it and it’s for my granddaughters as well.
“It’s the end of term for them and it’s a time to party and have fun. There are 40 children coming to each party all from local schools in the area.
"At first it was just going to be one party on the Wednesday, but then other parents were saying the end of term was different and some of the kids broke up on the Thursday instead, so we’re having two parties. We had to turn some away because more than 40 would just be too many.
“I thought the parents would just drop them off but many of them have stayed and we’ve put on a BBQ for the parents to enjoy it too.
“There’s also a competition for best dressed Swiftie and the prize will be some bespoke friendship bracelets. The tickets were £10 but we’ve spent way over that.”
After the success of the Taylor Swift themed parties, Barbara and her family are planning to organise Abba and Queen nights for adults.
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