The second Roaring Twenties Lawn Party attracted more than a thousand swing dancers, vintage-clothing enthusiasts and sophisticates to the Crane Estate in Ipswich for an event like New York’s celebrated Jazz Age Lawn Party—but with grand architecture and landscaping unlike anything there.
Sunday’s festivity started with a six-count swing dance lesson by co-host Boston Swing Central so less-experienced attendees could confidently step to Baby Soda jazz band. The ensemble played through the afternoon and evening between a Charleston lesson and performance, a vintage attire contest and a Lindy Hop routine.
Away from the stage, people shopped the vintage fair, picnicked on the rolling lawn, posed next to antique automobiles and played 1920s lawn games like croquet, bocce and badminton.
This year’s group threw themselves into the spirit and style of the period, according to Boston Swing Central's president Mike Hibarger, who after going to New York's party for years, decided to organize a dance-centered one for New England.
“It’s about creating something that captures people’s imaginations," he said. "We also bend the rules a little bit: instead of being hardcore 1920s, we embrace the early 30s, and by stretching that rule, the music gets a little more garrulous and a little more fun."
Click through the slideshow above to see scenes from the day.
