New Years Eve – Barnstaple December 2018

Growing up in Barnstaple I was always fascinated with the New Years Eve parties that were always held in and around the square in the heart of the town. Looking back there were a number of years that stand out in the memory, the ones with live music, dressing up and a sea of people partying and seeing in the new year together. There used to be a real competition between Barnstaple and neighbouring town Bideford for the best NYE party in Devon. I do remember it being close for a few years before Bideford really stole the show and was even named one of the top 10 places in the country for NYE, which is bit bizarre but hats to the organisers who year on year make it an epic party.   After speaking with the people at Barnstaple town management in September 2018, we found out that no one was planning anything for the NYE of 2018 in Barnstaple, which even though only left us a matter of weeks to organise the event we went for it anyway. We had an idea to use the bus as centre stage, both for the music to be played from the top deck as well as the bar below and organised a one way queuing system which filed in behind the sound system which was supplied to us and managed by Konan Kollective Once the bus idea made sense and the equipment was booked we had to organise a few other key elements such as; security, food, toilets, power, advertising and one of the most important things, the music itself. We racked our brains about how we could bring something different to Barnstaple and something current that would appeal to as many audiences as possible. We reached out to a few people that we felt not only had local connections but who would be able to rock the square and bring the atmosphere we were searching for. One of our favourite local DJs was first to confirm, DJ Wan who is a seasoned pro and has been in the game for over 30 years and is able to mix his sets to keep the party going and appeal to many audiences so was perfect, he kept the partying rocking from start till finish as well as sharing his experience and knowledge with the whole team. Next was Ben Hunter who is a Barnstaple boy who has gone on to chase his dreams in London with his hip hop and rap style and talent, one of the hardest working people I have ever met. We were so happy to give Ben a stage in his home town to let him do his thing and needless to say he brought the house down and didn’t miss a beat.  

Ben did the countdown from the top deck of the bus to over 400 locals all partying and dancing the night away just before the fireworks announced 2019, this image will stay in my brain for a long time as we pulled off an epic NYE party with no hick-ups. We won’t be doing Barnstaple 2019 mainly due to not be able to grow the event in the way we would like to, but maybe next year we may be in a better more independent position where we don’t have to reply on other suppliers as much meaning we can go for it and make it bigger and better, we need to take back the number one spot from Bideford. 

Thank you to everyone who was involved and stay tuned for new events coming in 2020, check out our Facebook to stay in the loop New Coast Events.