From left: Parker Breinholt, Tanner Valerio and Erik Little, three co-owners of The Tribe, prepare for their next event, the Freedom Frenzy. (Erik Little)
Parades and fireworks can be patriotic, but so can a mechanical bull, six competing DJs, a $1,000 cash drop and breaking the world record for the most party poppers to explode at the same time.
All of those things will be found at the Freedom Frenzy party on Friday, Sept. 16, at Peaks Ice Arena in Provo.
The event, hosted by a student-run event planning business in Provo called The Tribe, begins at 8:30 p.m.
The party's grand finale at midnight includes dropping $1,000 from the ceiling.
BYU marketing junior Erik Little is co-owner of The Tribe and said this isn't his first cash drop.
'At our 'Thrift Shop' party back in March, we dropped $400,' Little said. 'So we thought 'Let's do this same thing, but take it to the next level.' When people hear there's $1,000 dropping from the ceiling, they think 'I can spend $10 to get into a party, but hey, I can get it all back.''
The $10 ticket buys access to the pre-event Hawaiian barbecue at 7:30 p.m., as well as free party poppers, a 20,000-square-foot dance floor, geysers, beach balls, live DJ and musician performances and unlimited snow cones.
For $5 more, attendees can ride the mechanical bull all night, get unlimited drinks and play bubble soccer. Tickets are available online or at the door.
Little said the Freedom Frenzy isn't just about having fun.
'I think that patriotism is something that's been lost with a lot of our generation, so the true foundation of the Freedom Frenzy was a desire to give it a theme that could do some good, and also a theme that people could get into,' Little said. 'Who doesn't like to dress up in red, white and blue?'
In accordance with the patriotic theme, the event will feature decorated war veterans, military vehicles, American flags and a solo performance of 'The Star Spangled Banner.'
From left: Brooke Woolf, Brooke Beetaldo and Jackie Adams pose as models for the Freedom Frenzy event. The Tribe, a student-run event planning business, hosts its first-ever Freedom Frenzy this Friday. (Erik Little)
Coordinator of the DJ competition Micah Lund, a junior majoring in entrepreneurship, said another goal of the Freedom Frenzy is to bring value back to events.
'I've actually had this idea to do a DJ competition for a long time,' Lund said. 'Right now, people are willing to go out and spend $10-$20 on the weekend for movies, but if an event is any more than $5, then it's a 'maybe.' We're trying to let people know that it's okay to pay more than $5 for an event if it's going to deliver the same amount of output.'
The DJ competition will feature six local DJs who will compete for the chance to win a $500 cash prize, but according to Lund, every DJ is a winner.
'The real prize is that every DJ gets exposure and the chance to brand himself,' Lund said.
Parker Breinholt, also known as DJ Tribe and one of the headlining DJs of the event, said he hopes this event will give people an experience to remember.
'How I look at it with DJing is you want to play a song that they didn't know they wanted to hear,' Breinholt said. 'That's always a goal of mine. I hope people walk away thinking this was the best event they've ever been to.'
The Tribe has purchased 3,000 party poppers with the plan to break the world record for the most party poppers to go off at once.
According to Little, breaking a world record, playing bubble soccer and getting a mechanical bull are a part of their efforts to diversify the event and make it more appealing to various audiences.
'We're always thinking, 'How can we make this event more than just a party? How can we bring something more to it that will bring more people out?'' Little said. 'A lot of people who aren't huge fans of dance parties will be huge fans of coming out with a bunch of friends to ride a mechanical bull, or play bubble soccer or go enjoy free snow cones and listen to live performances outside.'
The Tribe members will get to experience something new themselves when they face the mechanical bull for the first time.
'None of us have (ridden the bull before),' Little said, 'but we're definitely going to try.'
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