The event design of the Wolf Trap Ball, hosted by the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, featured screens with scrolling images of the national parks that rotated throughout the reception and dinner. Plants and greenery walls around the dining areas, as well as floral centerpieces, also reinforced the night’s theme celebrating the National Park Service's 100th anniversary. The event was held in September in Vienna, Virginia, and raised $1.5 million.
At the Canadian Opera Company’s fund-raising gala, Centre Stage, held in November at Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, lights and projections transformed the venue’s ceiling into a cloudy blue sky with 14 suspended orbs draped in white silk orchids that hung above the dining guests. The tabletop floral arrangements consisted of white hydrangeas and white orchids in gold vases.
For the City of Hope’s Spirit of Life gala, which was held in November, Natalie McAdams of Namevents designed a night under the stars—inside a tent in the parking lot below the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles. To recreate the outdoor evening look, the production team built a stage that resembled the moon's surface and used fiber-optic panels to resemble stars.
The Boston Symphony Orchestra held its opening night gala in September, raising $1.5 million. The gala dinner, created by Café ArtScience's Patrick Campbell, was served in four rooms at Symphony Hall, each decorated in different artistic themes (watercolor, charcoal, dance, and architecture) that were inspired by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition," which had been performed by the orchestra prior to the dinner.
At the Choral Arts Society of Washington’s annual fund-raising gala at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington in December, event designers created a snowy Swiss Alps theme complete with icicle-like chandeliers and wintry decor.
Keep a Child Alive’s Black Ball, which was held in October at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, evoked the spirit of '80s activism, when the fight against AIDS began, and paid respect to those who acted during that time. The decor reflected the theme with elements such as a glow-in-the-dark graffiti wall and street art-inspired linens, programs, and graphics. In addition, for the first time the event was live-streamed on Tidal. The evening raised $2 million for children and families with H.I.V. in Africa and India.
In October, Meridian International Center hosted the 48th annual Meridian Ball. Following dinners at venues around Washington, guests, including high-level officials, ambassadors, business leaders, and media, gathered in the Meridian House’s gardens, as well as inside a tent on the venue’s lawn for dessert and dancing. The event’s inspiration was the Orient Express, featuring elements such as hanging faux gas lamps, luggage accessories, leather furniture, and a travel-theme dinner menu. In addition, the dance tent was transformed into the Moulin Rouge (since Paris was a popular spot on the Express) with marquee letters and fiery red accents.
