Abi Hall — Abigail’s Party & Funky Mothers
‘5 in 5’ — I Love Kingston
Abi Hall is one busy lady! Having always loved parties, clothes and fashion, she’s successfully combined the three and is now the organiser behind Abigail’s Party and Funky Mothers, two well-known fixtures on the local social scene. Abigail’s Party is a club night for ‘clubbers of a certain vintage’, as she calls them (love this!); having organised and promoted parties and club nights since the early noughties, Abi has a wealth of respected DJs she can call upon to soundtrack a great night. If you haven’t quite got the energy to dance until the early hours, Funky Mothers is an occasional ‘girls’ night out’ event that showcases local fashion, beauty and jewellery businesses, amongst others. Oh, and did I mention she’s also a personal stylist and a mum of two? Somehow she’s found the time to answer my ‘5 in 5’ questions. Thanks Abi!
- What’s the idea behind Abigail’s Party and Funky Mothers?
Funkymothers was initially a website for local mums — but with a twist — for parents who wanted to be sociable and remember their own personality as well as being the best parent they could be (Happy Mother, Happy Baby type ethos). Being a mum to two beautiful and naughty little children and someone who’d lived in the local area forever(!), I saw that there were lots of new people in town and wanted everyone to get together and have a ‘go to’ website to read the local listings, see what was going on and make friends too, after all kids activities are often more fun together with friends.
Leading on from that, I had a whole big list of spin off activities/events that I wanted to encompass under the Funkymothers umbrella, and a party night was one of them, so Abigail’s Party was born.
Abigail’s Party has gone from strength to strength and I like to bring some really great DJs to local venues. So many of us now have a full complement of kids/large mortgage/babysitting requirements/big career/very busy lives and so we don’t party as we used to or would like — going up to London can take too long and most local clubs can be, well, a bit too young and quite frankly not that cool!
At the next party on April 30th we have Brandon Block, Lisa Loud, Jon Jules, Sophie B & The Sheen Resistance on the DJ line up alongside our residents Kevin Delaney, Mista Chops and James Bell, and we’ve reclaimed the Viper Rooms in Kingston for our generation of ‘Vintage Clubbers’. We used to go there on a Wednesday night when it was Boiler House at Cinderella’s in the late 80s, and so it’s all quite nostalgic for me. It’s also fantastic to have a venue with two rooms as I think we can attract a more diverse crowd playing soul/funk/disco & grooves as well as house music all night long.
Over time, Funky Mothers has metamorphosed into a more girly affair where I run ‘Girls Night Out’, a shopping and pampering evening for local ladies. I rent out stalls to local businesses and ‘the gals’ can come along and shop local and be pampered at the nail bar or have a massage.
I also invite local business women to post on the Facebook page about their companies & events — I like the idea that we can all share and care & support each other.
There have been some really exciting developments with Funkymothers recently so watch this space to keep abreast of all things funky!
2. What do you think has been your greatest achievement so far?
Well, I would say that building Abigail’s Party up to the venue size that we’re at now is a huge achievement, and the fact that we are putting on our next party at The Viper Rooms in Kingston and have sold over 200 tickets with over 2 months to go is just wonderful! I love the fact that The Viper Rooms have given us a shot and we’ve booked a date there for 2018 already.
I was also recently contacted by another amazing venue in South West London about doing an Abigail’s Party there, which is hugely flattering and proves to me I must be doing something right. I can’t wait to tell you all about it, it’s a bit of a secret at the moment. 2017 is turning out to be a fantastic year with some very exciting times ahead.
3. What’s been the most challenging moment in your journey so far?
As anyone who has built a business will know, there are so many challenging moments and I’ve come across many in the last few years, luckily so far none that have proved too difficult to overcome. Getting the right staff to support you on the night of an event is so important, and I’m so lucky to have a great team alongside me, thank you to you all — you know who you are!
Without these wonderful and loyal people Abigail’s Party would not have grown as it has and would not have been the great night out we have all come to know and love. I have complete trust in Team AP and that speaks volumes!
4. Where do you see yourself in 5 years’ time?
In 5 years’ time I still want to be running Abigail’s Party and Funkymothers events! I think we should all have a focus and a fulfilling work life can provide that. I’d like to be running Abigail’s Party across the world in some of the most exclusive and famous clubs. I’m a great fan of holidays and to incorporate travel into my work would be the icing on the cake.
To think that I could work a night and then spend some time in a fantastic location AND bring my family and friends with me to create fun and memorable times together would be totally amazing.
5. What do you enjoy most about living and working in the Kingston area?
I love this area, I’ve grown up here and know it well, Kingston holds so many memories for me and I’m creating new ones with my family and friends daily. I love the fact that we have so much to do on our doorstep — we really are very privileged. And hey, if Kingston hasn’t got what we want on a particular day then London, the local countryside or the south coast generally have, and all are just a stone’s throw away.
You can buy tickets for the next Abigail’s Party on Sunday 30th April (May Bank Holiday) here
You can follow Abi and Abigail’s Party on the Website, Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram.
