No doubt about it, the loudest place in town Saturday night was Music Hall Ballroom.

        Not because of the music, clanging dishes or the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra playing downstairs.

        Nope. It was the clothes. The party was “Sun, Sand & Song,” a $135-a-head beach blanket do for 300, most of whom came in the loudest, brightest, most obscenely floral numbers they could find.

        Like designer Patrick Korb in a screamingly bright orange top and even louder pink, black, red and yellow beach baggies. Or arts supporter Sherie Merek in some floral and flowing job you heard before you saw. Or longtime May Festival supporter Rick Muhlhauser in flowery straw hat and silky floral shirt.

        No black tie stuffies at this May Festival benefit, not when you have Squiggy the macaw chatting with the guests.

        Even the room was loud, with blue spotlights for the underwater feeling, centerpieces with huge palm fronds and goldfish swimming in the vases for the tropical feeling (Scott Atkinson's Ivy on the Park did them), the Eastern Kentucky University Steel Drum Band for the Caribbean feeling, hula girls for an exotic feeling and a busy daiquiri machine for the cocktail hour feeling.

        Oh yeah, and a dance floor full of beach balls, which led to any number of mini-soccer games. Try sipping your chardonnay and not spilling while ducking a beach ball.

        Even the goodie bags, the traditional party favor bags full of little sachets and cologne samples, were different. These babies held a lifeguard whistle and two fish-on-a-stick, one with an open mouth and a handle you could squeeze to snap shut the mouth. (And yeah, it's a wonderful weapon for discretely pinching people.)

        After dinner — fruity salad, chicken with apricot and rum sauce, mango flan with coconut — Cincinnati's favorite party band, namely Johnny Clueless, cranked it up on the dance floor.

        Picture that: 300 loud floral prints dancing in blue lights. Kinda gives your sunglasses a workout.

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