H&G’s Midas Touch// Introducing H&G
Over the past few weeks, we have been busy tuning all the finer details to ensure our NYE, Golden Palace Party exceeds all expectations. We have introduced you to our gorge line-up, gave you the inside scoop on what to expect and provide you much-needed costume
Q&A with H&G Creations
When and why did H&G creations start?
H&G Creations (short form for Hunt & Gather) are two co-founders Deirdre Young and myself,
Can you tell us a bit about the parties that you throw? What’s been your favourite one so far?
At H&G we want to bring people joy through experience, we create safe environments where people can let their hair down, make new friends and maybe learn something new about themselves. Our fav party so far? That’s a tough one, as so many good ones come to mind! However, I would have to say our Midas Touch NYE party last year in Loughcrew Mansion. This is the most magical venue, and where we will be hosting some of our events this
You really are doing entirely unique things that are loved by everyone because of their inclusive nature. Did this come from a lack of this in Dublin before?
Its not that Dublin isn’t inclusive, but its kind of divided into smaller groups of people interested in different subcategories of art, music, culture etc. We started creating events out of a wanting to present art work in spaces that weren’t galleries in order to make the work itself more accessible to everyone, and by putting it into unpolished spaces it felt like anyone could be part of the art community. We have since then adapted this ethos to all of our events, our mission is to to create a safe space, free from judgement. Spaces that bring performance to people outside of the theatre, music to people outside of the club and education to people outside of the classroom. By pulling all of these elements together we are attracting people from all walks of life, interests, backgrounds who are cross pollinating with each other at our events making connections, friendships, relationships, creative endeavours. Its pure magic, and we feel privileged to be able to create such spaces for the community.
What generally inspires the themes of your parties and what do you think the themes or visual storytelling add to a night?
We take inspiration from just about anything, but we do find ourselves going back to writers, history, folklore, mythology a lot to get inspiration for our parties. We are story tellers at heart, its so much more engaging for us and for our audience to tell a story and connect all of the elements of the event together through story. Everyone is searching for a little taste of escapism and we want to provide that by building tiny worlds of imagination for people to get lost in. C
You have your corporate clients for events and clients for weddings and more, but your very own parties seem to showcase your genuine love of people, music and having fun the most out of all the events. How important is building a unique experience for you?
Experience is everything, and we have been lucky enough to work with some really amazing clients outside of our parties who understanding this as well. However, when we get to curate our own events from the ground up we don’t have a brief to stick to, or a client to answer to, we really try to create events that we would like to go to ourselves. Its complete and utter free rein and a place where we get to really express ourselves, to share our dreams and imagination with our guests. There is nothing we love more then bringing people together, taking them to a space where we can positively encourage them, broaden their perspectives, spread love and joy, change the world one person at a time.
Can you tell us about the escapism you are trying to achieve for people who attend your parties? Secret cinema, cuddle puddle and immersive performance all sound pretty good.
We think people are so over run with daily demands that we really want to encourage a sense of escapism with our events as a way for our guests to disconnect. By bringing all these elements together we can take guests on a journey of reconnection to themselves, and others through experience. People are usually having so much fun wandering, dancing, chatting, exploring at our parties that you very rarely see people on their phones.
You are encouraging people to bring reusable cups. We’ve all seen the photos following electric picnic and other festivals where the rubbish left behind was excessive. How important do you think sustainability is within the events industry and how can we encourage it?
After being to burning man a few years in a row, we have seen that you can run a massive event and have a leave no trace policy! We are trying to explore new ways to encourage our guests to be more conscious about the waste they are creating while at our events. We think small incremental changes like reusable cups, compostable cups, biodegradable glitter, group transportation, car pooling etc that can make a world of difference. There is a mentally here in Ireland that when you’ve paid your money for a ticket, that you are there to spectate and consume, someone else will clean up, someone else will look after everything. We are trying to shift this mentality by getting guests to participate, realise that we are a community, were all connected and that not only do we need to look after one another we need to look after the planet as well. The events industry is so demanding and transient, its really important to share information to make both organisers and goers more conscious about their waste, its true you can have a great time and minimise your impact at the same time.