Award-winning event styling company This Space, was appointed to style the hottest New Year’s eve party in town – Portside New Years Eve ’21, presented by Trippas White Group. The event celebrated the arrival of the new year 2022, with the core message of bringing people together again front and centre.

Held at the Western Boardwalk of the Sydney Opera House, this spectacular event hosted and entertained 500 guests, treating them to roving food carts, a stellar entertainment line-up, and plenty of other delights and surprises throughout the night.

This Space team shares the highlights of the event.

How was your company involved in the event?

This Space was appointed as the styling agency for Portside ’21 and worked with the team at Trippas White Group to bring the concept of “Together Again” to life within the event space. This Space designed the Portside precinct to be a visual spectacle of light and colour to bring in the New Year. With the central message of bringing people “Together Again” and to “Party Together” we aimed to create a fun, celebratory space full of light and life, with a message of hope and prosperity to carry into 2022.

We designed a core colour palette of six bold and bright tones which inspired the styling and vibe of the event; fun, upbeat, inclusive and celebratory. This colour palette informed the following elements:

• Colour-blocked cocktail furniture zones in shades of Baker Miller Pink, Saffron, Acid Yellow, Cerulean (blue), and Heliotrope (purple), which also featured bespoke branded artwork applied to Portside café furniture.
• VIP Area inspired by Absinthe (green), the sixth colour in the palette. For the VIP Area we wanted to create an elevated experience, a Miami Vice/Palm Springs fusion with strong pops of green amongst white wire cocktail and lounge furniture.
• Entrance feature photo backdrop with “New Year’s Eve” neon sign, featuring all colours from the core colour palette, that allowed guests to take a NYE selfie right upon entry to the event.
• Tassel photo backdrops, tassel ceiling installation, and stage styling.
• Branded t-shirts for waitstaff, allowing the “Together Again” messaging to be visible throughout the event.
• The This Space team also coordinated AV and production elements, as well as provided onsite support to the Trippas White team for the event duration.

What were the highlights of the event?

Guests were treated to first class entertainment throughout the evening. After the 9pm fireworks concluded, Australian DJ duo, Yolanda Be Cool performed a DJ set, getting everyone up on their feet and onto the dance floor. This was then followed by headline performer, Sneaky Sound System, whose performance counted us down to midnight, allowing guests to dance their way right into 2022!

We wanted to create an interactive event experience for guests, allowing them to be able to engage with various elements as a form of entertainment. Our mobile food carts were the perfect solution, roving the precinct with various delicacies which were alternated throughout the evening to cater to the vibe of the event as the atmosphere built. For example, upon guest arrival the cart was a stationary seafood station, loaded with fresh prawns, oysters and various condiments, as the event moved towards the 9pm fireworks, the carts were converted to serving salted pretzels, a snack that was both filling and easy to be eaten on the dance floor, followed by a watermelon and sherbet cart, a fresh and hydrating palette cleanser to refresh guests in between dancing.

As midnight approached, the dancefloor was flooded with waitstaff carrying LED umbrellas raining with fairy floss and wearable trays filled with packets of glow in the dark fairy floss. This was followed by a roving dessert cart and a churros cart, serving guests with midnight snacks to enjoy as the fireworks approached.

As a nod to the theme of “Together Again”, we designed the concept of “Food Tinder”, a way of presenting various food and beverage elements together as a perfect pairing. We set up our Food Tinder Wall in the Western Foyer and throughout the evening, guests could come down and be presented with different food and beverage pairings presented through different service holes in the Food Tinder wall. This provided another interactive moment for guests to engage with throughout the evening as a form of entertainment.

From a styling perspective, the true showstopper was our tassel garland ceiling installation we designed and created within the Western Foyer, overhanging two static food stations. Employing the core colour palette in both flat and metallic tones, we created this installation to allow colour to flow through the space, reflecting light and creating movement, whilst also creating major impact upon guest arrival to the event.

What was the feedback like?

As an events professional, HelmsBriscoe senior director, global accounts, Trina Butler, said she critiques venues and functions that she attends, and she happily shared that the Portside event was flawless!

“The beverage offerings were plentiful, top shelf and generous while the Trippas White team, like Daniel, were very friendly and gregarious,” Trina told us.

“The food package provided was exceptional over the five-hour event: canapés, oysters and prawns in abundance, with creatively displayed and seamlessly replenished roving food carts offering the dancing and seated revellers pretzels, fresh fruit and beautifully presented desserts. The experience was one that I would be proud to present to my clients’ attendees.”