Masquerade Gala

Friday September 29th at

Hof ter Musschen in Woluwe St. Lambert

Welcome Desk opens at 7 pm

Our Welcome Desk opens at 7 pm, reception begins at 7:15 pm with a welcome toast at 7:30 pm

Welcome

When you arrive, stop by our Welcome Desk to get your program, auction & paddle number and take a few minutes to peruse our fabulous auction items. The Silent Auction opens with the doors, so you can start bidding as soon you feel inspired!

The Auctions

Play Your Part

This is the final event for the Play Your Part fundraising initiative that set out a year ago to raise €100,000 to support, renovate and update the Warehouse Theatre. These facilities support English-language theatre in Brussels (read our story). With the help of our volunteers and overwhelming support from both the theatre and international communities in Brussels, we have come so close - currently € 88,000. We hope to narrow the gap tonight and therefore are asking you to Play Your Part one final time. We have organised several ways for you to support us, and we hope you will join in on the fun!

All proceeds from the Raffle, Silent Auction and Live Auction will go to the Play Your Part fund. The Auction items are to be paid for and collected by the winners on the evening after the dinner in the bar area.

We accept cash and card payments.

THE RAFFLE

Raffle tickets will be sold throughout the evening with some stellar prizes (see below)! The top prize is a pair of Rayban Story Smart Glasses, generously donated by Meta. Raffle tickets will cost one for €5 and three for €10. Tickets can be bought with cash or card. The raffle draw will be done at the very end of the dinner, right before the dancing.

* If you are not there to claim the prize during the draw, a new number will be drawn for that prize.

SILENT AUCTION

The Silent Auction items will be displayed throughout the reception and dinner for you to admire and bid on. There will be a bid sheet per item where you can add your name and paddle number to your bid! Each item has an opening bid and bidding increment. The highest bid when the auction closes will be the winning bid.

A 5-minute warning will be announced before the close, around 9:45 pm, so you have an opportunity to make one last bid. The winners will be announced before the live auction. Collection and payment of the auction is due at the event. When the dancing begins you can collect and pay for your items in the bar area.

LIVE AUCTION

The Live Auction will take place during the coffee and will be a fast-paced, live bidding auction. There are four fabulous prizes (see below), just waiting for the highest bidder. You bid by raising your paddle, so stay alert! A paddle waved is a bid made! The prizes can be paid for and collected in the bar area immediately after the Raffle draw.

This section contains most commonly asked information. If you have other questions, please dont hesitate to reach out to us on playyourpartbrussels@gmail.com.

Practicalities

WHERE

Hof ter Musschen

Ave E. Mounier 2

1200 Woluwe St. Lambert

The Welcome Desk will open at 7 pm

WELCOME DESK

Before the reception, please stop by the Welcome Desk where you will find the program for the evening and receive your paddle number for bidding on both silent and live auctions.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

You can easily get to Hof ter Musschen by public transport:

metro (MIVB): line 1 to Stockel, get off at ALMA

bus (MIVB): line 42, get off at Hof ter Musschen

bus (MIVB): line 79, get off at Hof ter Musschen

bus (De Lijn): line 659, get off at Hippocrates

PARKING

The venue has allotted 20 parking spaces for us and there is also on-street parking. If you prefer, there are two large Q-Park pay car parks within walking distance (4 minutes) of Hof ter Musschen (Esplanade and Hippocrates, on Hippocrateslaan, in the direction of Saint-Luc University Hospital), both open 24/7. An attendant will be available to direct you to parking options.

CLOAKROOM

An cloakroom is available in the bar area. As it is unattended, neither the venue nor PYP will accept responsibility for the articles left there.

PAYMENTS

Payments for auction items are payable during the event. After the coffee you will be able to collect and pay for your items in the bar area. Cash will be accepted if it is the exact amount, but cards and contactless payments are preferred.

DRESS CODE

There is no required dress code, but we are expecting a mix of Black Tie and evening wear. We are encouraging masks (decorative masks, not Covid masks!) to set the tone for the evening so bring a mask and join the fun! Please also note that, weather permitting, the reception will be held outside in the beautiful courtyard.

TIMING

Our Welcome Desk will open from 7 pm and the evening will finish at 1:30 am.

Entertainment

Aside from the charming MC and auctioneer, we will be offering light entertainment from people who are generously donating their time and talent to support our cause.

ITHAKA QUARTET

During the reception, this string quartet will be playing light classical and jazz music for your enjoyment.

BRONTËBURGERS by Victoria Wood

Deborah Griffith take us on a light-hearted tour of Haworth Parsonage, Directed by Tracie Ryan.

Reception

Ithaka

String Quartet

Starter

Brontëburger - performed by Deborah Griffith

Main Course

Stand-up Comedian

Dirk Denoyelle

Dancing

DJ Marky Mark

DIRK DENOYELLE - Stand-up comedian

Dirk was born in Roeselare almost 59 years ago, but don’t tell him! Professionally he creates art with LEGO bricks and has been regaling audiences as a comedian for over 30 years. His credits include the flemish voice of Hagrid, Voldemort and Sirius Black in the Harry Potter movies and he speaks somewhere between 7 and 16 languages.

DJ MARKY MARK

Our DJ is just a 'regular gay boy' bringing the cheese and the pop to your party, playing 80s, 90s and even going a bit 'naughties'.

LIVE AUCTION ITEMS

Private Chef Dinner in your home for 6

3 Nights for 4 in Connemara, Ireland

Private tour for 2 of the Air Traffic Control Tower

3 Nights for 3 in Barcelona

Live Auction

Get your bidding paddles ready! You will receive your paddle number and program at the Welcome Desk, but your actual paddle will be waiting for you at your table. During the coffee, the auctioneer will start the live auction. To bid, simply raise your paddle. The live auction items below are all unique experiences not to be missed! The winning bidder can pay for the item and collect the voucher with full details in the bar area immediately after the auction closes.

PRIVATE CHEF DINNER AT YOUR HOME for 6

A complete dinner party for 6 from champagne apero to dessert. Lorraine de Bock, our chef, has taken courses and classes in the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) in Manhattan and the Cordon Bleu in Paris. She will arrive “chez vous” complete with all the supplies to cook and serve a top notch meal with Champagne and wine in tow!

Redeem by June 30 2024

Dates agreed with host

3 NIGHTS FOR 4 in CONNEMARA, IRELAND

Nestled in the middle of a valley, Derrypark Cottage is located right on the shore of beautiful Lough Mask with the imposing majestic Partry mountains behind. Enjoy a private beach, swim, boat on the lake, hike, bike, or simply

sit and relax outdoors and enjoy the stunning views. Auction is for accommodation only.

Food & Drink

There will be a one-hour reception from 7:15 pm to 8:15 pm where cava, waters, juices and a mocktail will be served along with hors-d'oevres, tapas and crudités. Dinner service will be from approximately 8:30 pm to 10:30 pm. There is a set menu, however dietary needs such as allergies, vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free can be catered to if we are informed by Tuesday September 26th. Dinner is served with wines and waters. Dancing will start after the coffee service and raffle winners have been announced. During the dancing, an open bar will be available serving a variety of drinks including 0% beer. The bar will close at 1:15 am and dancing will stop at 1:30 am.

SET DINNER

Millefeuille de Burrata, fantaisie de tomates et petit croquant de Duroc

Coucou de Malines à la sauce au poivre, roulade de légumes et pommes duchesses

Glace de circonstance aux fruis frais et son coulis

Café

Raffle

You won't be able to miss our raffle as volunteers will be working the room! Don't let your chance to win our fabulous prizes pass by. Tickets are one for €5 and three for €10, payable by cash or card. Our top prize is generously donated by Meta and there will also be 2 bottles of premium Irish Whiskey, 6 bottles of Scotch, a few bottles of Cava, along with other funny and entertaining prizes (see more items here). Prizes will be handed to you during the raffle.

RAYBAN STORY SMART GLASSES - TOP PRIZE

Ray-Ban Stories, the latest in wearable tech, with camera and audio, combine legendary Meta technology with Rayban quality and design. Find out more

Value: €329

The Program

The evening will kick off with a one-hour reception, three-course meal with coffee and finish with dancing. Weather permitting, the reception will be held outside in the beautiful courtyard. There will be entertainment and auctions taking place throughout the evening, but we leave plenty of time for good food, good fun and good conversation. The Welcome Desk will be open from 7 pm and the official evening will kick off at 7:15 pm, ending at 1:30 am. We hope to offer you a night to remember!

Reception

Silent Auction opens

Seating for Dinner

A Welcome Toast

Meal Service begins

A Short Monologue

Silent Auction last call

Stand Up Comedy

Silent Auction Winners

Live Auction

Raffle

Dancing

Singing Telegram

KitchenAid Toaster

Small Sewing Jobs

Custom Made Cake

Slovenian Crystal Bowl

Hand Crocheted Bedcover

ECC Panto Tickets

Oculus VR Headset

Desktop Chewing Gum Dispenser

A 'For a Friend' Basket

Framed Water Lily Painting

and more....

Silent Auction

The Silent Auction will open at the start of the evening. Each Item will have a bid sheet next to it. To place a bid add your name, paddle number and amount on the sheet. Throughout the evening guests can bid on the items, so if you have your eye on something, go back regularly to check if your bid is still the winning one! We will close bidding during the main course and announce the winners before the Live Auction. When the dinner finishes you can collect and pay for your items in the bar area. Check out our fabulous Silent Auction items here.

Photographer

As a small token of our appreciation we have organised a photographer for the reception to take pictures of you, your couple or your group in front of our step & repeat backdrop for the occasion. He will upload all pictures to an online gallery and they will be available for you to download, free of charge. If you would like pictures taken, please make your way to the banner. He will also take some candid shots at the beginning of the dinner. If you have an issues with photos please contact us, otherwise all photos will be posted in the gallery and be available for download. Please note, due to a scheduling conflict, photos will only be uploaded the first week of November... the perfect time to remember how much fun you had!

From 7 pm to 8:15 our photographer, Tibor Radvanyi, will be taking photos at our Play Your Part step & repeat.