New Year's Eve bashes

Ill-fitting coats is not the trend for 2004. I know you can't be blamed for thinking it, if you happened to be driving around Paceville in the early hours of New Year's Day. However, it was not due to a brand new 2004 fashion trend that the young people who had been 'celebrating' New Year's Eve were walking around in coats, which were either too small or too big for them. Read on.

People attending the V&M party at the Westin Dragonara were having a good time, the food was good, the drinks flowed and all went well until about 2 a.m., when people started to make their way to retrieve their coats.

Even at that early stage those in charge of looking after the coats were not coping because people were just walking in and helping themselves to their coats. Meanwhile, there was no provision for queue formation, so a free-for-all ensued as more people started to leave the party.

There was no proper cloakroom. Hanging rails had been stacked against one wall in the foyer and a couple of trestle tables were the only barrier separating the people from the coats.

By 2.30 a.m. the situation had become chaotic, with people pushing and shoving and jumping over the tables. The rush overwhelmed the attendants and two of the security guards, employed by the organisers, and coats were thrown all over the floor.

"There was a stampede," was how one partygoer described it.

Another young man told me: "I was really embarrassed because my girlfriend is German, and I was wondering what kind of an impression she was getting of us... she ended up losing her coat, but the organisers have told me they will reimburse those who lost their coats, through their insurers."

This chaotic situation with people crammed on the stairs pushing to get to their coats went on for about 40 minutes, by which time people who managed to get to them, were just grabbing any coat that came to hand when they could not find their own.

The police were called and, according to one of my sources, eight police officers including a sergeant, an inspector and an assistant commissioner and two SAG officers turned up.

"This was when the confusion got worse," said a group who were unceremoniously pushed outside. Young women were pushed and shoved in the breast by officers who have no idea of how to control such a situation.

When a young man appealed to one officer, his response was: "What have I got to do with this? I just want to go home to bed." It seems that the organisers shared this sentiment because, according to one of the people who contacted me, the security officers were looking for the organisers who employed them, but it seems that together with the coat attendants they had slipped away.

When I asked one of the organisers why he was not around to direct the security guards he had employed and take responsibility for the chaos, he told me that he was advised to leave by the police.

Now I really had intended to give the police praise this weekend, because I was impressed by the way they kept the traffic flowing in the pouring rain on Wednesday night. I was making my way to Villa Chapelle in St Paul's Bay at about 11 p.m.

As soon as I got outside the tunnel on the Regional Road the traffic was thick. I was wondering whether I was going to see the New Year in, in a traffic jam. However, the cars were moving, albeit slowly. Paceville seemed to be everybody's destination because as we cleared that junction the traffic flowed, but it looked like the traffic police were doing a good job.

I kept glimpsing the shiny yellow and white jackets all along the way and my thoughts were: "Those poor guys working in the pouring rain so that we could get to our 'fun palaces' and dance the night away."

They also must have proved a deterrent to anyone who was stupid enough to think of driving too fast. They made me feel safe and grateful.

But unlike the traffic police, the officers called to help with the mêlée at the Westin had no idea of controlling the situation. They roughly pushed people and locked them out. By the time the end of the crowd outside got to the coats, they were all gone.

Now I remember stories, from when I was still little, about aunts who had left a pristine fur coat in a cloakroom and were handed one which had seen better days when they were leaving.

Everyone knows a lost or swapped coat story. Somehow, those stories were stored in my brain somewhere, because whenever I go to a public event I always wear a coat which I would miss least if I had to lose it. But I suppose the whole point of owning a smart, warm coat is being able to wear it whenever you want to.

But to get back to the V&M party, apparently there was one Good Samaritan who took it upon himself to try and bring some order to the chaos and was helping the security officers sort out some coats, but the task was thankless because few people left with their own coats.

One source told me: "They were all stealing coats". Now I was not there, I was at a more civilised do, where the food was excellent, the drinks flowed, the music played and a wonderful time was had by all. And we all got our coats back at the end.

But I do not think that people were intending to steal coats. I can understand the people who had been involved in a chaotic scramble for over an hour only to find their coats gone. They were left with no alternative but to take what was left rather than freeze, although some people preferred to leave with no coat at all.

When I spoke to one of the organisers he told me that they were checking with their insurers and asked people who had lost their coats to call 9920-6371.

People who ended up with the wrong coat can also call to give a description of their coat and the one they ended up with.

When I asked him what lessons he had learnt from the experience he said: "That the Maltese cannot behave normally". I don't think he was including himself. Now although I am sure that some did behave badly, the organisers had a responsibility.

When one pays Lm 25 for a party invitation one expects to be able to leave one's coat in a secure place. Incidents do happen, but this was no incident - it was a disaster.

The Westin Dragonara's PRO Karin Mifsud rang to tell me that the Westin was not involved and the hall was leased out to V&M who had total responsibility for the event.

"We provided two security officers one to help with the parking and another to stand outside the entrance. V&M hired the security men inside the building."

It is such a shame that people who fork out good money to have a good time end up regretting partying on New Year's Eve. The wearing of a warm coat is a necessity for most women, young and old, because they wear décolleté and sleeveless dresses. Therefore people who organise parties should ensure they provide adequate cloakrooms staffed with efficient staff.

Other venues in Paceville also had their share of lost coats, but it was not only missing coats which spoilt New Year's Eve for many youngsters. Transport was another disaster. Some young people who sensibly, and through parent pressure, decided to hire a bus rather than drive also came to grief.

A bus that had been leased to take a group to Gianpula left them stranded at Saqqajja and the girls had to wade through the rain in their high heels for over a kilometre, arriving rather bedraggled and cold. Not a good start to the evening. However, the driver thankfully did drive in to the venue to pick them up.

Another group were stranded on the way back from Ta' Qali. They had paid in advance for a bus to pick them up at 2 a.m., take them to Paceville and then pick them up again at 5 a.m.

The bus did not arrive and although they managed to phone for another bus, it could not pick them up till 4 a.m. The original bus also turned up at 4 - two hours later - spoiling the group's plans completely.

The moral of this story is that there seems to be no control or responsibility on whoever organises parties and transport on such occasions. Someone has to ensure that party organisers are experienced enough to handle such events, the police should be able to handle such minor fracas successfully and transport providers should be penalised if they let down customers as blatantly as they did on New Year's Eve.