Disney’s Snow White wrap party ended with someone riding a horse indoors
When Snow White became the first feature-length animated movie to be released by a major studio, Walt Disney knew celebrations were in order. However, he didn’t expect his party to get so out of control. What started as a field day with golfing competitions and picnics turned into an all-night affair so scandalous that Walt left early. This left the animators free to dump each other into the pool naked, orchestrate ‘wife swaps’, fall off second-storey balconies and ride horses through the hotel lobby.
Duc d’Orleans’ Ball of the Burning Man ended with men literally burning
In 1393 in Paris, a grand ball was thrown for Charles VI, known as ‘the Mad’. As part of the festivities, knights donned costumes soaked in pitch, and guests were tasked with guessing their identities. These costumes were highly flammable and, despite fire being banned by the palace, the king’s brother Duc d’Orleans wandered in with a torch, which promptly set the costumed men ablaze. Even worse, the party’s final surprise was that the King himself was one of the mystery knights. While the king was saved, the other knights perished in the inferno.
One of Henry VIII’s soirées involved a temporary palace and fountains of wine
When King Henry VIII and King Francis I met on a diplomatic mission in 1520, it quickly turned into a show of wealth on both sides. The “meeting”, which included jousting matches, nightly banquets and an entire temporary palace, lasted two and a half weeks and took 6,000 labourers to achieve, costing £15 million in today’s money. This money was partly spent on two huge fountains of beer and wine, big enough to swim in. Unfortunately, as both kings spent the entire fortnight drunk, hungover or eating, no political goals were achieved.
Admiral Russell built a punch bowl so big a child in a boat served guests from it
In 1694, Edward Russell was made England’s First Lord of the Admiralty. To celebrate, he threw an enormous party in Cadiz, Spain, centred on a giant punch bowl. The 2,800 litres of punch were placed in a fountain so big that a child in a boat was tasked with rowing across the surface and serving guests with a giant ladle. Unfortunately, the guests quickly got rowdy enough to jump in with their shoes still on, capsizing the boat, nearly drowning the child and starting a wine-fuelled brawl.
King Louis XIV’s Pleasures of the Enchanted Isle bash ended in an inferno at Versailles
Versailles was famous for its wild parties, and its inaugural gathering definitely set the tone. King Louis XIV said the bash was for his mother, but everyone in attendance knew his mistress, Louise de la Vallière, was the real guest of honour. The party started with lavish costumes and plays, giant whale-shaped parade floats and even horse racing on the greens of Versailles, but it only got wilder when the king himself jumped in to perform a ballet. The event was wrapped up quickly, however, when the fake palace that had been built was burned down by guests.
Pope Alexander VI’s 1501 party gave a prize to the man who could bed the most women
If you were going to guess who threw the most debauched party in history, your first guess probably wouldn’t be Pope Alexander. Nevertheless, 1501’s Banquet of Chestnuts, named after an antiquated innuendo that’s not hard to figure out, is still infamous today. After a hefty banquet comprising of mostly meat and wine, the Pope invited 50 escorts to stand on the table and do a seductive dance for guests. He then declared that the man to take the most women to bed would win a prize. No records survive of who won.
Andrew Jackson’s 1829 White House rager had a guest list of 20,000
When Andrew Jackson, otherwise known as Old Hickory, won the presidency in 1829, he had his priorities in order. Earlier in his campaign, he declared his inauguration would be an open house celebration, and so 20,000 revellers showed up at the White House ready to congratulate him in person and get drunk on the state’s dime. The crowd quickly got out of control, damaging the White House badly enough that Jackson had to leave secretly via a window and later ask Congress for $50,000 for redecoration and repairs.
Nero’s libation lock-ins had vomitoriums installed so people could keep eating
Emperor Nero’s Golden House was said to host the craziest parties anywhere in the ancient world. Within his rotating dining room, he would deliver decadent feasts that had some unusual rules. Firstly, no one could leave the table unless it was to visit the vomitorium, where guests could throw up their food in order to keep eating. The only other acceptable reason to leave was to retire to the many bedrooms with a partner. The house’s doors would also be kept locked until Nero declared the party to be over.
The Manchu Han imperial peace feast lasted for days
Not every historical party was filled with decadence for decadence’s sake. On Emperor Kangxi’s 66th birthday, he threw a completely over-the-top banquet that aimed to alleviate the tension between the Manchu and Han ethnic groups. His strategy was to improve relations by setting both their cuisines side by side at the table, and the only problem was it took the assembled guests days to eat everything on the menu. However, over the course of this mammoth feast, the two groups did begin to find common ground and foster diplomacy.
Alexander the Great’s Persepolis party saw the city burned to the ground
After Alexander the Great successfully conquered Persepolis, he celebrated by throwing a raucous party for his forces and supporters. Allegedly, the flowing wine inspired Thais, the lover of both Alexander’s general Ptolemy and Alexander himself, to drunkenly suggest torching the city. Alexander the Great’s young and excitable soldiers complied before Alexander could stop it, and the city was burned to the ground in a few hours. All the while, the many female musicians in attendance were commanded to keep playing.
