Imperial students swap lab coats for glad rags at the Summer Ball celebrations

Imperial students and staff celebrated the end of term in style at the Summer Ball on Saturday.

Guests arrived to find the South Kensington campus transformed for the party of the year. This year’s theme was 1920’s Prohibition, and staff and students dressed to impress with suits and black tie and flapper style dresses.

One of the organisers Imperial College Union’s President Paul Beaumont, said: “The Summer Ball is one of the Union’s largest annual events – and this year it was bigger and better than ever. The DramSoc transformed the campus into a 1920’s den of underground exuberance. The Prohibition theme gave students the perfect opportunity to get dressed up and finish the academic year off in style!”

The era of jazz and swing music came to life with a modern twist in the Queen’s Tower Rooms with electro-swing from live act Kitten and Hip as well as sounds from the College’s IC Big Band. DJs Jon Bongly and Auntie Maureen and live band James and Rabbit Hole kept the party going.

This year’s funfair on the Queen’s Lawn included the dodgems and the Big Wheel, which offered passengers views of the campus.

In the Great Hall, up and coming acts M.O and Little Nikki brought things back to the present day. The Luminites brought their blend of acoustic guitar, human beat box, keys and vocal harmony and BBC Radio 1’s Zane Lowe kept people dancing well into the early hours.

The evening finished with a bang thanks to the Summer Ball fireworks, which lit up the night sky and illuminated the Queen’s Tower and other familiar College buildings.

DJs playing until six in the morning at the Union’s Afterparty, with dancers posing at 5am for the traditional survivors’ photo.