How two Orlando women brought every Swiftie’s dream to life
“Three, two, one Midnight!” screamed the crowd around me on the night of Oct. 20, 2022. I was at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party celebrating the release of “Midnights,” Taylor Swift’s tenth album. My roommate and I had driven two and a half hours from our Gainesville apartment to The Orpheum: the Tampa nightclub where the event was held. We bought our tickets a month in advance and were overwhelmed with anticipation since we are both big Swifties.
The event was hosted by an organization called Le Petite Fete, which is, as their website describes, an organizer of “pop culture obsessed dance parties.” They were founded in the summer of 2021 by Orlando residents Courtney Gibson and Caitie Philips. As Gibson describes in the article she wrote for Newsweek, the two women got the idea after “see[ing] videos on TikTok of people in Australia at a Taylor Swift themed night.”
Inspired, they quickly got to work and planned their own Taylor Swift-Themed night on June 18, 2021. It was held at Neon Beach in Orlando and called the “Cruel Summer Kick-off.” It was an instant hit. According to Gibson, all 300 “tickets sold out about two weeks before the event,” with others begging for extra tickets.
The event itself appears to have gone off without a hitch. Their first TikTok, which they posted the day after the kick-off, went viral and kickstarted their successful marketing plan. That original video currently has 39,300 views, while Le Petite Fete’s account has 15,900 followers.
After their first party, the dynamic duo went on to host a Britney Spears night on July 16, 2021, and another Taylor Swift party on Aug. 13, 2021. The two made their first trip outside the bounds of Orlando when they hosted a Taylor Swift party in Tampa on Oct. 12, 2021. They didn’t stop there. Currently, they have planned events for Baltimore, Nashville, Philly, NYC, Chicago, Austin and more.
The Taylor Swift parties are every Swiftie’s dream. Taylor’s songs are blasted as hundreds of fans unite and sing their hearts out. In an interview with the University of Tampa’s student-run magazine The Minaret, Gibson describes the parties as “very girl-powered.” In fact, the two only hire female DJs to lift up women in the industry and create an even more empowering evening.
Speaking from my own experience, the environment felt incredibly welcoming, excitable and empowering. All the women, who were primarily aged 18-30, gathered in clusters discussing theories about “Midnights” and bonding over their shared passion for Taylor Swift.
Despite only knowing my roommate, I talked to so many different people at the event and had the greatest time getting to unleash my inner fangirl with them.
Starting at nine p.m., the DJ played all of Taylor Swift’s greatest hits, and even streamed the 15-minute “All Too Well” short film on the giant screen up front. The event was 18+, but many of Le Petite Fete’s other events are 21+, while a few are open to all ages. Due to a Spotify overload, the DJ didn’t actually start playing Midnights until around 12:10 a.m., but it didn’t make the experience any less magical.
In addition to the music, there was also a costume contest and a lip-synch battle. I can confidently say that the participants gave it their all.
While the release of “Midnights” was a one-time occasion, Le Petite Fete will continue hosting their incredible pop culture-themed parties. “Swift X Sour,” “Are You Ready for It?” and “A Verry Merry Swiftiemas” are just some of the parties they have coming up in the next few months.
If you are interested in attending, their website, https://www.lepetitefete.com/, has information on all their upcoming events.