DOOMSDAY PARTY CELEBRATES MAYA CULTURE-APOCALYPTIC STYLE
Free Event Features End of World Music,Contests and More on the Last Day of the Mayan Calendar
(West Palm Beach) November 19, 2012-When planning your holiday calendar this year, be sure to include the end of the world. The Doomsday Party marks the last day of the Maya Calendar on December 20 from 8pm to midnight. The event features “end of the world” music, apocalypse costume contest, free Mayan-inspired henna tattooing, art contest and more at Respectable Street Café in West Palm Beach.
December 21 is regarded as the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. For event planner Elizabeth Dashiell, it is a golden opportunity to celebrate a milestone birthday. “Most people have ‘over-the-hill’ parties,” says Dashiell. “But December 20th being my actual 40th birthday, I get to have an ‘end of the world’ party. The excuse is a great one, but I also wanted to share a little bit of Maya culture at the same time.”
Some of the Maya themes include a game of “Bul,” a sort of early battle-themed board game the Maya’s played. Guests will have the chance to learn the simple, but addictive game involving stone “warriors” and dried corn as dice. Additionally, Maya-inspired and other types of henna tattoos will be provided by local henna artist, Diana Spring from 8:30pm to 10pm.
A costume contest, which invites partiers to dress up in their own interpretive “doomsday” apparel, and an on-site, original interpretive “doomsday” art contest will award the winners with Godiva chocolate baskets, as ka’kau’ (cacao, or chocolate) was cultivated by the Maya and considered a “gift of the gods.”
The rest of the party includes “end of the world” music (think R.E.M., nihilistic groups such as Joy Division and other similarly-themed groups and songs) from 8pm to 11pm; free food from 8pm while it lasts; “doomsday drink specials” all night; and a special “Doomsday” cake before a midnight countdown.
The Doomsday Party takes place December 20, from 8pm until midnight at Respectable Street Café, 518 Clematis Street in West Palm Beach. Admission is free. For more information, contact Elizabeth Dashiell at 561-543-8276.