4th of July in Australia

I've been a member of a facebook group called the "Sydney Americans".  I've seen parties they've hosted for the Super Bowl, Halloween, and Cinco de Mayo, but I've never taken myself out to join the fun and festivities.  When I read the following post about a 4th of July bash, I knew I need to go.  When I read it aloud to my guy, he said "you can wear your onesie" in a somewhat sarcastic manner thinking "she's not going to wear her onesie, is she?!"...I responded "Hell yeah, I can wear my onesie!"  No doubt.  Pajamas on a Saturday night.  Yep, I'm in.








 "Once again we're throwing the biggest Fourth of July American Independence Day Party in the Southern Hemisphere!

Awesome music & live American DJ’s, American food & drink specials, Jim Beam Party Crew, Beer Pong, Cornhole, flip cup, free American Whiskey tasting (5-7pm), our famous Trivia comp (5pm start), 4th of July FIREWORKS show (8:30pm), lots of fun & games and more! Over $10,000 in prizes & giveaways.

Dress: as American as Apple Pie! The theme is all things USA and there are prizes for best dressed! Remember it's free entry before 6pm, $10 after that if you're dressed American ($20 otherwise).

We're taking over the entire Hard Rock Cafe & the neighboring venue, Cohibar, and all the space in between! There's a lot happening at both venues throughout the night...

4:00pm: Doors open, food & drinks specials begin inc $25 meal deals (a full meal + choice of a Coors, wine or soft drink). Kids also welcome until 8:30pm if accompanied by a parent but things start getting a bit more adult after that.

5:00pm-6:30pm: Trivia time: there will be three rounds of our famous team trivia with prizes after each round, prizes for the overall winning team and lots of fun individual challenges.

5:30pm-7:30pm: Free American Whiskey Tasting in Cohibar. Anyone who buys one or more tickets in the charity raffle gets some vouchers for free samples. Charity desk will be in Hard Rock and the tasting will be in Cohibar.

6:00pm until really, really late - DJ's are taking over Cohibar and spinning some American old-school jams, dancy R&B, garage disco and feel-good funk.

7:30pm - 10:30pm: heaps of giveaways plus our friends at Jim Beam will be bringing out their party crew to run some fun & games at both venues.

8:30pm: special 4th of July FIREWORKS - best views are from Cohibar's huge verandah but plenty of good viewing at Hard Rock as well.

9:00pm & 11:00pm: Charity Raffles & Free Door Prize Draws: proceeds from the charity raffle are going to support local community projects of United Way. Raffle tickets will be available on the night at the door. The Grand raffle prize is a $1,500 PRE-PAID CREDIT CARD that works in Australia, USA +7 other countries thanks to our awesome friends at OzForex!!!

9:00pm til late: Our American DJ's will be rockin Hard Rock with all American classics & House and Cohibar will be going till the wee hours with lots of American soul, funk, dancy R&B, garage disco and more.

This will go late, late, late: Cohibar has a 24 hour license, so let's see how late we can keep them open!

Where?
Cohibar & Hard Rock Cafe Sydney (Level 2, Harbouside Centre, Darling Harbour).

Volunteers have more fun!
We're looking for a few hip, young, cool volunteers on the night for an hour or so. Email if interested.

This is all thanks to our incredible Sponsors who ask very little in return so let's give them our support throughout the year:

OzForex, Jim Beam, Blue Moon, Outback Steakhouse, Coors, ESPN, Chugg Entertainment, Hungry Jacks, Brooklyn Boy Bagels, Bonza Bike Tours, Jazz City BBQ, Tailgate Beer, Jelly Belly, Samuel Adams, United Way, Cohibar, Hard Rock Cafe Sydney, Sydney Expat Americans, Network Canada"

I have a girlfriend that lives here who went to junior high and high school with me. I contacted her and told her we needed to go to this shindig.  She agreed.  As it got closer, the party kept growing.  On Thursday, there were 1200+ RSVPs on the facebook event page, by Saturday morning, there were 1600+.  I have no idea how many were in attendance, but a lot.  A lot were in attendance.

Highlights: Jim Beam Maple Magic Slushees (think, pancakes as an icee); American beer including Louisiana made Abita brews; fireworks (well, I was in the toilet for these...when I came out, it was impossible to get out to the balcony...oh, the woes of wearing a onesie); American-themed trivia; American food (pulled pork sandwiches, potato skins, hot wings, and more); the costumes (from Evel Knieval to American Psycho, Lady Liberty to Pilgrims...we Americans know how to dress for a costume party!); party music and dancing all night; the venue overlooking Darling Harbour; red solo cups.
 

I gotta admit, I'm pretty dern proud and impressed with the amount of fun, positivity, jubilation, and all-around happy rowdiness that was shown.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.  (All pictures pulled from the Sydney Americans photo album or they are my own.)

HUGE shout-out to the organizers of this event - it was awesome!  I will definitely be joining more parties thrown by this group.

Who wants to come visit me in Australia next year and celebrate the 4th of July Aussie/American style?!