How to organise the ultimate freshers’ party in 2024

If you think you’ve got what it takes to host your very own freshers’ party, this guide is for you. Read on to learn about the various steps you’ll need to take to put on a truly killer student club night, that will have freshers talking for weeks to come. 

Let’s get stuck straight in 🙌.

Do students still want freshers’ parties?

Heard that students are less fussed about partying these days? It’s true – some studies do suggest that there’s been a shift in drinking culture among uni-goers, with one highlighting that 28% of students surveyed were non-drinkers in 2022/23, compared with 14% the previous year. But – and it’s a big but – that’s not to say that freshers’ parties are dead, by any means. 

First up, club nights can, of course, be enjoyed by non-drinkers. Secondly, there’s still a huge place for great nights out in that hazy, thrilling first week of uni – as proven by the array of freshers’ events to be hosted in major uni towns and cities this year. From foam parties to popworld themed club nights and ‘secret’ raves, there’s much to look forward to for newbie students in 2024 and beyond. So, while some students may prefer quieter ways to meet new friends, we think it’s safe to say a huge percentage still want to experience all that fantastic freshers’ club nights have to offer.

The steps you’ll need to take to organise a killer freshers’ night

Read on to learn about each of these freshers’ party planning steps:

1. Choose a great, easy-to-reach venue 
2. Choose an awesome theme 
3. Book exciting DJs/performers
4. Keep your costs down
5. Make things affordable for students
6. Devise a student-friendly ticketing strategy
7. Look into event insurance
8. Implement a targeted promotional strategy 

Choose a great, easy-to-reach venue 

It’s best if students can reach your venue on foot, by bus, or a short taxi trip that won’t cost too much. So choosing a venue that's easy to get to from the local halls of residence is your best bet. Outside of that, it’s important to lay out a set of criteria that your venue needs to meet. This might include:

• Capacity: Can the venue hold the number of attendees you want to attend?
• Cost: Does the hire cost fit within your budget?
• Health and safety: Does the venue meet health and safety standards for your type of club night?
• Facilities: Are there enough toilets and bars for your number of attendees?
• General ambience and mood: Does the venue fit with the ‘vibe’ you envision your night to have?
• Acoustics and sound: Does the venue have its own soundsystem? Or, if you’re using your own, are its acoustics good enough to achieve the desired sound quality?
• Layout: Do you want a venue with lots of nooks and crannies, or a more open space with a warehouse feel?

Choose an awesome theme 

There’s something quintessentially ‘freshers’ about a club night with a theme. A quick scan of Freshers events for 2024 reveals that this trend is as big as ever – so now’s the time to get creative in choosing a theme for students to get excited about. 

Some ideas to get you started included:

• A night dedicated to a specific pop act – Taylor Swift, Beyonce, and Harry Styles are all great contenders.
• A night dedicated to a particular music genre, like all-out indie or EDM.
• A more niche theme – like Ibiza White Party or Neon House Party.
• An era-focused theme, like 90’s Party or 00’s Party.
• Classic themes like School Disco, Freshers Welcome Party, and Secret Rave.

One great way to beat the competition and make sure your event stands out is to actually ask what freshers want. You could do this by running polls on social media, asking students to vote on a theme they’d love to see on the freshers’ events circuit.

Book exciting DJs/performers

Next up, it’s time to get your music and entertainment sorted. What you go for will depend on your theme – one or two DJs who are well equipped to play in the right genre could be more than enough. Or, you might want to go one step further, with additional entertainment such as cabaret acts or tribute bands. 

Searching online will throw up lots of options when it comes to actually booking the acts you want. For example, Female DJ Agency specialises in (you guessed it) supplying amazing female DJs for events across the UK and world. Check out Tribute Acts Management for tribute bands, and Bark.com for general event performers. 

Keep your costs down

Student nights need to be affordable by nature, so it’s important to factor this into all elements of your planning. Working out how you can keep your own costs down is the best way to then be able to pass these savings onto your attendees. That’s why it’s crucial to create a realistic event budget, and be prepared to opt for a ‘cheap and cheerful’ vibe over anything particularly luxe.

Ways you can keep costs down for both yourself and therefore your attendees include:

• Being picky over the venue you go for – this will be one of your biggest costs, so it’s important to opt for something affordable. It also helps to choose a venue that includes as much as possible in the hire price. Some will include things like security, cloakroom staff and decks in the price, for example, whereas others won’t. 
• Shopping around for everything – you’ll need to pay a lot of people when it comes to putting on your freshers’ party. So it’s crucial to shop around to find savings any way you can – whether that’s for the company that prints your flyers, or your main performers.
• Roping in your friends to help – try to get free help from anyone who’s willing. Your mates could do some free-of-charge flyering for you, for example. Or that friend who’s desperate to create a graphic design portfolio might be willing to help with your promo materials at no cost.

Make things affordable for students

Following on from the above point 👆– there are various ways you can promote your event as super affordable for students. For example, you could:

• Sell drinks token packages – so, students save when they buy tokens in advance, rather than buying individual drinks at the bar.
• Put on drinks deals, like a two-for-one happy hour.
• Bulk-buy props and fancy dress items at a discounted price, then sell these at a low cost to attendees at the point of ticket sale.
• Partner with a taxi company to give attendees cheap transport.
• Devise an affordable ticketing strategy (more on this below).

Tip: Ticket Tailor’s Products and Add-ons feature makes it super easy to sell additional extras at the point of ticket sale.

Devise a student-friendly ticketing strategy

An event’s ticketing strategy has the potential to make or break ticket sales. It’s all about ramping up excitement and enticing potential attendees into making that purchase once and for all. Where students are concerned, one of the best ways to do this is to employ strategies that make tickets feel more affordable. For example, you could:

• Sell early bird and even super early bird tickets: Issue limited numbers of tickets in batches, with the earliest batches being the cheapest. Each batch gets gradually more expensive, encouraging students to get tickets sooner rather than later to save money.
• Sell ticket bundles: Sell ticket bundles at a discounted price to encourage students to buy for a group rather than individually. For example, if your standard ticket price is £9, you could sell a bundle of six tickets for £42, meaning each ticket holder gets a £2 discount.
• Sell tickets with different inclusions: Sell different ticket types to encourage students to grab a great deal and spend less on their night out. For example, one ticket type could include, say, two drinks or a pitcher of beer (working out cheaper than buying the drinks separately). Another could include a discount code for the local taxi company.
• Sell VIP packages: When done well, VIP packages can be a great way to sell more tickets, boost your profits, and give attendees an extra-special experience. For your freshers’ night, a VIP package could include things like a separate VIP queue (to beat the crowds), access to a cool VIP area in your venue, a free drink or two, and an exclusive after-party invite. Head to our guide creating a successful VIP ticketing strategy to learn more.

Tip: With Ticket Tailor, you can set up unlimited ticket types – making it easy to sell VIP tickets, group tickets, and more. 

Look into event insurance

You’ll need to check with your venue if they have insurance, or if they require you to take out your own event insurance. Even if they don’t stipulate that you need your own insurance, it’s well worth looking into. Otherwise, you could find yourself in a position where you’re unprotected should something go wrong.

There are lots of different types of insurance cover that fall under the ‘event insurance’ or ‘business insurance’ umbrella. These are designed to protect you if, say, someone gets injured at your club night and decides to bring a legal claim against you.

We have a full guide to event insurance which is worth checking out.

Promote your event! 

Finally, it’s time to get the word out about your freshers’ party. Deploying a multi-pronged marketing strategy is the best way to land your event in front of as many eyes as possible. This could include:

• Flyering: Leaving well-designed posters and flyers around the town or city – and even getting mates to hand out flyers in densely student-populated areas.
• Social media: Creating great content to push out across your social media channels.

Read our guides to learn more:

Using TikTok to promote your events – your handy intro guide

How to get the most out of video marketing as an event creator

How to successfully promote an event on Instagram

• Email marketing: Sending out promotional emails in the run up to your event to your existing mailing list.

Read our guides to learn more:

The 8 best email marketing platforms for events right now

How to write email subject lines – 6 tips for a higher open rate

Your freshers’ party ticketing, sorted

Raring to get started with your freshers’ party plans? You’ll need a reliable, feature-packed ticketing platform to help things run as smoothly as possible. Ticket Tailor is one of the lowest cost platforms out there, thanks to our simple flat-fee pricing (and no hidden costs) – helping you to keep things as cheap as possible for students. With our platform, it’s super easy to set up a customised box office page, and enjoy tons of cool features that help you supercharge your ticketing strategy.

Find out more about ticketing your freshers’ events with Ticket Tailor >