Cartmel College - Lancaster University - Official Website

What is Extrav?

Each year, every College in Lancaster University hosts a huge end of year celebration hosted by each College’s JCR Exec called an Extravangza (or Extrav). With eight undergraduate colleges, and three days to host all Extravs, and you’ll enjoy up to three Extravs each night in the final week of Summer term!

Cartmel Extrav 2009: Moulin Rouge!

Review from The Griffin:

Even before the first corset-clad girls and suited-up boys started filing into Cartmel’s Moulin Rouge Extrav, it seemed bound to be a success. The bands were arriving and the finishing touches were being put on the lavish decorations – we were ready for what promised to be the most amazing night on campus. We weren’t disappointed.

Bright red garlands were draped across Barker House Farm, adorned with fairy lights and ribbons, to recreate the Parisian air of our theme. We had our very own Moulin Rouge windmill elevated in the corner of the room, but the pièce de resistance of Barker House Farm was the projection of the live webcam feed from Paris. It slowly showed darkness falling over the Eiffel Tower as the night went on, creating the backdrop for the area where the six acts were to perform later on.

The atmosphere in the bar was sensual with red lighting and candle-lit tables – but the queues (and the drinks offers!) soon filled it with the chatter of over 900 people dressed to the nines. With cheaper-than-usual drinks and our themed option, absinthe, the bar was the busy centre of the action – whereas the JCR was a more chilled-out affair with cushions and sofas to recline on whilst watching (what else?) Moulin Rouge on the TV.

For those who preferred to dance the night away, though, the music on show was plentiful, loud, and awesome. I Hate Rachel Green Club kicked the night off by warming the crowd up with some modern covers, swiftly followed by The Clergy who did likewise. Guernica came on after to play their anthemic tunes, before the final support band Tape released their enjoyable take on piano pop.

The lovable ladies from LUDanS (that’s the Dance Society to you and me) did a quick Moulin Rouge inspired jig to warm up the audience for the centrepiece of the night – The Four Fighters! Unsurprisingly staffed by four rock-hungry manly men, these guitar heroes played us all late into the night, climaxing with fan favourites Everlong and Monkey Wrench. The LUDanS ladies returned for a quick gitchy-gitchy-ya-ya, and then Cartmel enjoyed the latest tunes, before resorting to some of the greatest old school cheesy pop hits our resident DJ James Davies could find.

With so much going on – from the Pancake man to dancers – we can safely say our Extrav was a huge success. A massive thank you to everyone who decorated, organised, performed or turned up on the night – we made it a brilliant event that won’t ever be forgotten… When else will you see people crowd-surfing in Barker House Farm?