Running a Tea-Rific Party for All Ages

Tea parties don’t need to be divided amongst the old souls and the youngest of children anymore, and the programming team at the Grande Prairie Public Library has been proving just that. We have been having fun hosting some all-ages themed tea parties over the past few months. Tea parties symbolize hospitality, and are safe spaces that welcome open and relaxed conversation with friends and family. Add a little theme, throw up some sweet decorations, and you’ve got yourself a fun and easy program.

Our programming staff have planned four themed tea parties so far this year – a Pirates and Princesses Tea, an LGBTea, a Spook-Tea, and a Tea Rex Party. GPPL has been running tea party themed programs for many years, but they have always been aimed at children only.

In Grande Prairie, one of the biggest community events is the annual Father Daughter Ball. It is also incredibly expensive, and notoriously difficult to get tickets to. We wanted to host a program for those who missed out on this coveted event. The program that came out of this idea was a Father Daughter, Pirates and Princesses Tea Party.

The program filled up so quickly that we immediately added a second one, which also filled up. Fathers and daughters came dressed in their best dresses and pirate outfits, and enjoyed an afternoon of games, snacks, and crafts.

GPPL’s Children’s Program Coordinator and Community Outreach Librarian saw the success of the pirate tea, and, after steeping a while over planning, drew inspiration for their next big program. They teamed up to plan an LGBTea for Pride month, and it turned out to be the biggest and longest running tea party our library had ever run.

Increasing hostility towards the 2SLGBTQ+ community made programming staff want to show our support as allies. And while we weren’t yet ready to run another drag story time, we did want to offer a pride related program for all ages.

The LGBTea was a drop-in program, and welcomed patrons of all ages to come enjoy an afternoon of inclusivi-tea. There were decorations, book displays, and of course, snacks! 32 people showed up for that tea party, and the response was very positive. Staff did quickly learn though that making registered tea-times was necessary to keep the flow going.

To celebrate Friday the 13th in October, we ran another tea party – this time it was a Spook-Tea. We wanted to offer a free event to counter all of the expensive, for-profit Halloween events. This time though, patrons were required to register for 30-minute time slots, and there were six slots available at a time. Patrons were encouraged to come in costume, and got to visit and sip their tea while enjoying the spooky ambiance of the program room.

The Spook-Tea got 71 participants in a 3-hour time period, and people loved it. Once again, books were set up on display to match the theme of the tea party. Patrons were grabbing books and reading them to each other while drinking their tea and eating their snacks.

While the registered time slots worked great, staff found 30 minutes was not enough time to clean up and prepare for the next wave of people. Although we are still ironing out the kinks, GPPL’s programming staff have no intentions of slow

ing down on the tea party planning. We are planning a Tea Rex Party, keeping in theme with Dinovember, and will include games and crafts as well as traditional tea party snacks.

Food is the way to draw people into programs, and themed tea parties for all-ages is the perfect program to attract our communi-tea.

Bailey Randolph
Head of Children’s & Teen Services