History by the Numbers (2021) s01e14 Episode Script
Party Animals
1
(fireworks cracking)
(upbeat music)
- I'm definitely a party animal.
- I've been partying
for 33 years.
- What does it take?
(indistinct)
A complete disregard
for one's own health.
- If I get 10 nuggets instead
of six, that's a party.
- Just embrace your
degeneracy, is what I say.
- The desire to party
is a universal instinct.
It's not limited by
nationality, religion, culture.
- [Narrator] The fact is,
we are all party animals.
In the US alone, 29% of us
throw a party every month,
6% throw one every day.
And that means you
could get invited
to over 19 million parties.
- Over 19 Million.
- 19 Million.
- 19 million parties.
- [Narrator] And any one of them
could change the
course of history.
- Parties have been at the
center of social movements,
they have stopped wars from
happening, they've started wars.
- Parties have been
very instrumental
in shaping what our
society is today.
- [Narrator] This is the story
of how 13 parties
became legends.
The party animals behind them
start with a simple plan.
They don't mean to
change the world,
but you never know where
a party might take you.
And by roaring success
or disastrous failure,
all of them will
go down in history.
(gunshots firing)
- Ooh, the best party
I've ever been to,
it's my 30th birthday party,
I don't remember any of it.
(upbeat music)
(rocket roaring)
(indistinct radio chatter)
(fireworks cracking)
- [Narrator] So, what
if you just wanna go
to the biggest party on earth?
Five days, more than
600 block parties
and 6 million of
your closest friends.
- People often asked me the
best party I've ever been to,
immediately I can
say the Rio carnival.
It's like nothing else on earth.
(upbeat music)
Brazil generally is a
profoundly unequal society,
but everyone
celebrates carnival.
- The traditions of
carnival go back centuries.
But today the soul
of the celebration
is Samba music and dance.
- The music is really the
sound of the Rio carnival.
- [Narrator] That carefree sound
has roots in subjugation
and resilience.
It's the story of centuries
of musical evolution,
4.9 million Africans and one
out of work sports journalist.
Until the late 1800s,
Brazil is a major hub
for the slave trade.
- More enslaved Africans
were sent to Brazil
than any other country
in the Americas.
- [Narrator] And their
culture comes with them.
- Samba music and culture
started to develop in
black neighborhoods.
It draws on African influences,
but also fuses them with
indigenous Brazilian
and European influences
to create something new.
There was a lot of
pushback from whites,
upper-class Brazilian society,
but the music was just too good.
And it diffuse throughout
Brazilian society.
- [Narrator] By the
1930s, Samba is everywhere
and becomes the
heartbeat of carnival.
- So it's 1932 and journalist
and writer, Maron Filho
is stuck with things
to write about
after the end of
the football season.
- [Narrator] Filho
is already infamous
for hyping football matches,
why not do the same with
Samba in the off season?
- So he decides to
sponsor the first
unofficial Samba parade.
It's a huge success.
Filho is nicknamed "The
creator of crowds",
and this is the birth of
the modern Samba parades.
- [Narrator] Maron Filho
just wanted something
to write about, but he
changes carnival forever.
Today, they parade in
the 2,300 foot long,
90,000-seat, Sambadrome,
the heart of carnival.
More than 70 Samba schools
compete for 12
spots in the finals.
Each school tells a story
using six massive floats.
The schools are
divided into allies,
each with 100 or
more performers.
The drum section alone
can have 200 players.
A top 12 Samba school can
have 4,000 performers.
In total, 30,000
compete over two nights.
- [Shafik] The
performances often make
an important political message.
They're used to raise
important issues.
- Football is life.
- [Shafik] The
winners get a trophy-
- Oh yeah!
- But most importantly,
they get bragging rights in
Rio for the rest of the year.
And you can't put
a price on that.
But I think for tourists
and particularly if that's
their first introduction
to Brazil and Brazilian
culture, it gets you hooked.
You wanna keep going
back again and again.
- [Narrator] Parties just do
not get bigger than carnival.
But sometimes it's
about who isn't invited.
- If you look at history,
exclusivity of a party is
such an important thing.
- Look how cool I am, I'm
on the list and you're not.
- We're gonna think
we're having a good time
because no one
else gets to come.
- [Narrator] But one of the most
exclusive parties
in Hollywood today
starts with 40 folding
chairs and two TVs.
(upbeat music)
It's 1964 Beverly Hills.
Inside the Bistro
Restaurant, Swifty Lazar-
- [Swifty] What do you want?
- [Narrator] And his wife,
Mary, are hard at work.
- So Swifty Lazar was kind of
one of Hollywood's
first super agents.
And he revolutionized his image
when he started throwing
this intimate Oscar party.
- [Narrator] They roll in
two TVs and folding chairs.
- [Swifty] Come on, honey,
put your back into it.
- [Mary] I am.
- [Narrator] The
furniture is unremarkable,
but the butts in these
seats will be A-list.
- And this party was initially
kind of a creme de la creme
of their personal
friends in Hollywood.
- Jimmy Stuart.
- Hello.
- Gregory Peck.
- Hello.
- Jack Lemmon.
- Hi.
- Billy Wilder.
- How's it going?
- [Narrator] Everyone who
isn't at the Oscars themselves.
- You were with the kind of
old school guard of Hollywood
watching the most important
thing to Hollywood,
which is the Academy Awards.
And so it wasn't really about
the accoutrements of the party.
- Swifty serves
discount beef stew
while they watch the show.
- [Man] This' pretty good.
- [Narrator] And he rules
the room with an iron fist.
- You hear people talk
about Swifty's parties,
and they don't sound
like a lot of fun.
Swifty would shush
you if you talk.
- Hey, shut up!
- Sorry.
The party stays small,
though he adds seven TVs,
but its reputation grows fast.
Swifty wanted an
intimate little dinner,
now people say it's easier to
get a ticket to the Oscars.
- He got a thrill out of now
being this wheeler and dealer
who decided who was
cool and who wasn't.
- [Narrator] And for 28 years,
Swifty Lazar lords
over Hollywood.
When he dies in 1993,
he leaves a huge gap
in the party scene.
(upbeat music)
- His party gets re-imagined
and reinvented by Graydon
Carter of Vanity Fair.
This becomes an A-list party
where all the celebrities
are basically required to go
to see and be seen.
- This suit is so itchy!
- [Narrator] Vanity Fair one-ups
everything about Swiftys.
From 40 people in folding chairs
to 130 at the viewing dinner,
with 500 throughout the night.
From invite-only to $80,000
bid on a pair of tickets.
From nine TVs to eight,
but now there are
giant flat screens.
- Hurray.
- [Narrator] 420 bottles
of champagne on hand,
3,000 roses used in
table centerpieces.
(sniffing)
- [Woman] Smells expensive.
- [Narrator] And 800
In-N-Out Burger served.
A nod to the party's
humble beef stew origins.
- [Man] Mmh, beefy.
- [Narrator] Graydon Carter
wants the biggest
party in Hollywood.
But bigger isn't always better.
(indistinct)
- Okay, having famous
people at a party
adds a lot of boredom,
honestly, they suck.
Oh, have you heard
of my new album?
You're like, okay, relax.
(upbeat music)
- The Vanity Fair party
is almost instantly more
about the red carpet
than the actual party.
- [Musician] Hey, have
you heard of my new album?
- [Narrator] And
once you're inside,
everyone with a
smartphone is a paparazzi.
- It feels more like
a performative party
instead of an intimate party.
- [Narrator] Swifty
had mystique,
Vanity Fair has extravagance.
For the best of both, you
need to travel 2,500 miles
to the Oscars of the east.
(upbeat music)
$35,000 dresses,
$300,000 necklaces,
$800,000 diamond rings.
Just another night
at the Met Gala.
- The Met Gala is
the most glamorous,
avant garde mainstream
party in the world.
- And that's thanks to co
organizer, Anna Wintour,
editor of Vogue for
33 years running,
and inspiration for the devil
in "The Devil Wears Prada."
- [Anna] I'm so powerful,
I can destroy any of you.
- Anna Wintour controls
everything, everywhere,
and the Met Gala
is no exception.
It really is her vision.
- [Narrator] Her exacting
eye and iron fist
have made every year more
talked about than the last.
- But you're not invited, Mel.
- I got the Met Gala.
I have thought about
this my whole life.
- I like what Jaden Smith did,
which is to cut off his dreads
and just hold them in his hand.
- (indistinct) got to
show up dressed as a pope,
or whatever that
dress Rihanna had on
that made her look like
an extra large pizza.
- Excuse me.
- I think I'd wear something
like really revealing,
but made of luncheon
meat, you know.
Like low cut and cold cuts.
- I would want like fur,
but like a live animal.
Just have a couple of mix,
you know, (beep) why not.
(beep) Met Gala.
- [Narrator] In 1960, a ticket
would have cost you $100,
now?
- $35,000.
I think that tells you that it
truly is the most exclusive,
most fabulous party
currently in America.
- [Narrator] Anna Wintour
has taken a humble fundraiser
and made it a guiding
light of the fashion world.
And what about those
smartphone paparazzi?
- So the Met Gala has
this amazing mystique.
Because, once you get inside
to the actual museum itself,
you can't take pictures,
and you are the only one who
knows what happened there.
I mean that alone
is a dream, right?
If I ever had $35,000 around,
I might spend that
on the Met Gala,
just to see it just once.
- I can't see anything.
- [Narrator] New
York has no shortage
of ultra exclusive gatherings,
but one stands out
above the rest.
The capstone of
1960s high society,
the party of the century.
November 28th, 1966,
the night Truman Capote made
500 friends and 15,000 enemies.
- Truman Capote grew
up in rural Alabama
and he was kind of dumped
off by his parents.
He was very different
from the boys in Alabama.
- Hi.
- And when he gets
to New York city,
he's really kind of angry
'cause he feels like I deserve
to be one of these people.
- [Narrator] He channels his
resentment into his book,
"Breakfast at Tiffany's".
It becomes a sensation.
His followup is
totally unexpected.
- Truman became obsessed
with the murder of the Clutter
family in rural Kansas,
where an entire family was
massacred by two thugs.
- [Narrator] After six years
and 8,000 pages of notes
he emerges with "In Cold Blood".
- And when "In Cold
Blood" comes out in 1966,
it is a mammoth hit.
- [Narrator] "Breakfast at
Tiffany's" sold for $2,000,
"In Cold Blood"
gets him $2 million.
He makes a thousand
times more money.
- So it's the super
high point for him.
- [Narrator] Capote's ready
to crown himself king,
and to plan his coronation,
he calls it the
Black and White Ball,
after his two-tone dress code.
He obsesses over the
540-person guest list.
- Definitely not him.
- 'Cause this
guest list combined
so many different
types of people.
He kind of wanted to
do a science experiment
and stick them all together
and see what happened.
- [Narrator] This
gives him another idea.
Everyone in masks.
- [Narrator] I think
he would have said
that it was intended
to be a leveler, right?
Even if you're a nobody
and that's Rose Kennedy,
you can chat with them
and be on equal footing.
- Capote gets his own
mask for 39 cents,
Candace Bergen's
spends $250 on hers.
Everyone agrees
that people watching
is the best part of the night,
including the few who
actually managed to gatecrash.
- So, Susan Payson and her
date, Jerry Jones from Texas,
see all this fuss and commotion
going on at the Plaza.
And somehow they get into the
actual Black and White Ball.
- You did it, okay,
okay, play it cool.
- [Narrator] All of a sudden
they're seeing Mia
Farrow and Frank Sinatra.
- [Jerry] (chuckles)
No one knows it's us.
- [Susan] Hey, is
that Frank Sinatra?
- [Narrator] As Susan says,
every person in the world
whose face I'd seen in
the papers walking by.
- And Truman comes up to
them and they say hello.
- [Susan] Hello, Mr.
Capote, I'm Susan.
- And he's like,
"Oh yes, of course."
And he sits them down
with all of the folks
who were featured prominently
in the book "In Cold Blood".
And so Susan was just so excited
that she's sitting at the table
with all these real
life characters
she had just read about.
- Weaving in between Mia
Farrow and Frank Sinatra,
Susan, the gatecrasher
dances with the police
detective from Kansas.
And at the stroke of
midnight, the masks come off.
- [Susan] Oh, it's,
still Frank Sinatra.
- It was a bit of a let down.
I mean, you knew who
people were already.
The frenzy to get on the list
was actually much more
exciting than the party itself.
- [Narrator] His guest
list becomes shorthand
for whether you were part
of New York society or not.
One man tells Capote his
wife will commit suicide
if she's not invited.
- It said that he
would constantly say
you may or may not be
invited to everybody he saw.
It was that little outcast
boy really getting his kicks
from making the cool kids
quake in their boots.
- Take that bullies.
- [Narrator] It's been said
that night he made 500 friends,
his coveted guest list
and 15,000 enemies,
the social elite who
couldn't get an invite.
- The Black and White Ball
was really the last hurrah
of this certain kind of
international jet set society.
And it has become this
cultural touchstone
in American history.
- [Narrator] Truman Capote
turns his personal vindication
into the party of the century.
(upbeat music)
But just three years
later and 80 miles away,
another era-defining
party will take place.
The Black and White Ball was
all about keeping people out,
this one will have to
let 400,000 people in.
- This was a time of great
racial violence in the country.
It was a time of
the Vietnam War.
Around the world there
were student-led protests
for democracy and
against authoritarianism.
- And in upstate New York,
Michael Lang is
getting desperate.
No one wants his hippie
music festival in their town.
It seems like a garden
variety concert,
an Aquarian Exposition, three
days of peace and music.
But history will
remember it as Woodstock,
the Zenith of '60s
counterculture.
- You have to understand
that they secured
Maxi Yasgur's farm
about five, six days
before this festival.
Woodstock in many
ways was a miracle.
It's also an accident.
They thought maybe they'd
get 100,000 people.
And they would have
been really happy
if they had 100,000
paying people.
- [Narrator] 1 Million
try to get to the concert
and the concert is
not ready for them.
- Move, move it.
- [Narrator]
Traffic is backed up
more than 16 miles
around the farm.
A two-hour drive
from New York city
becomes an eight-hour gridlock,
but at least 400,000
still make it to the farm.
- So at that point, they
just realize this is free.
Forget making money
now we've got to control
what could be a disaster.
We need to get
enough porta potties
to serve an audience.
And how many porta
potties does any one
porta potty company have?
Not enough.
(toilet flushing)
- [Narrator] They get
600, one for 666 people.
The wait average is one hour.
- [Man] It's an emergency,
it's an emergency.
- It just looks like a huge
mass of people in the mud.
But people just seem to
be having a great time.
- Torrential rain, heat stroke,
inadequate food,
inadequate water,
inadequate sanitation
facilities.
People will go through
hell for that music.
- [Narrator] 32 musical
icons like Richie Havens,
Janice Joplin and Santana
provide the soundtrack
to three days
of peace, love and LSD.
- It helps us symbolize
the spirits of the '60s,
the counterculture.
Even now people
still refer to it.
- And then you'd have people
doing electric Koolaid,
everyone puts in
whatever drugs they have.
So people could be ingesting
LSD without intending to.
- Oh man, I don't feel so good.
- Being dosed with any
drug without your knowledge
it would be the least cool thing
to ever happen to a person.
- I guess I would
just taste the music.
- Maybe they had a good time.
- Oh God, that's terrifying.
- I'm not condoning doing that.
I just wanna make sure
everyone knows that.
- [Narrator] There
are 18 doctors
and 36 nurses at Woodstock.
One for every 7,407 people.
They deal with around
25 freakouts per hour.
(man screaming)
In all, they treat
742 drug overdoses.
Only two people
die at Woodstock.
One of an overdose, one from
being accidentally run over.
Rumor has it two
babies are born.
So the same number of
people left as arrived.
They just weren't
the same people.
- For the other thing
about Woodstock,
besides the incredible music
is people were together
under horrific conditions
for three days,
and there's no
violence to speak of.
- [Narrator] Well,
almost no violence.
It's early Sunday morning,
August 16th, 1969,
The Who has just finished
"Pinball Wizard",
Pete Townsend steps
back from the mic,
that's when social activist,
Abbie Hoffman makes his move.
- [Abbie] Oh man,
there's my chance.
- Abbie wanted to
radicalize Woodstock,
he just couldn't resist.
He ran up to one
of the microphones
and started talking
about the revolution.
- [Abbie] I think this
is a pile of (beep).
- [Narrator] Townsend
drowns him out.
- [Townsend] Get off the
stage you (beep) donkey.
- Pete Townsend took
his fender guitar
and swung and hit Abbie
in the back of the head.
- [Narrator] The Who starts
to play their next song
"Do You Think It's All Right".
- Abbie Hoffman wasn't
seen again at the festival.
- [Narrator] Jimi
Hendrix closes out
Woodstock on Monday morning.
Only 25,000 people are
still there to hear it.
The organizers are left to
foot the bill for their party.
They spent a total
of $3.1 million.
They took in only 1.8 million.
They ended up having
to refund up to 10%
of the 186,000 advanced tickets
to those who never made it
through the traffic jam.
- The festival was a
financial disaster.
And the Woodstock
occurred in August '69,
they didn't recoup
their money till 1980.
- [Hippie] What, I
don't get it man.
- A lot of people think
they got rich quick.
Not at all, they recouped
finally 11 years later.
- [Narrator] But maybe it
was a small price to pay.
They start with a run
of the mill festival
and wind up with the Zenith
of the hippie movement.
The birth of the mega concert.
The cultural experience
of the decade.
(upbeat music)
48 years later,
another party animal
will try to do the same.
Woodstock defines the
spirit of the '60s,
this party defines the age of
social media in the worst way.
Forget 11 years in debt,
it will end with
six years in prison.
- I remember watching
the video and going like,
wow, that looks like, that looks
incredible, I'd love to go.
- [Narrator] In 2017, an ultra
fleek social media campaign
reaches 300 million
people in 24 hours.
It invites them to Fyre Fest,
the cultural experience
of the decade.
Music, models and swimming
with pigs on a private island.
People line up to spend
up to $12,000 on tickets.
- And even then it just seemed
a little bit too
good to be true.
- [Narrator] Behind the
social media curtain,
it's a very different story,
thanks to Fyre Fest
mastermind, Billy McFarland.
He wants the
greatest party ever,
he just doesn't wanna
do any of the work.
He gives his crew six to
eight weeks to make it happen.
- This tells you everything
about Billy McFarland.
Six to eight weeks is like
an absolutely tiny window
in terms of like the logistics
of putting on a festival.
- When hyped up guests
arrive at the island,
the party doesn't exist.
They were promised 10,000
ticket holders per weekend,
they got 5,000.
They were promised private
villas, they got FEMA tents.
They were promised
A-list musical acts,
they got no musical acts.
All at an abandoned
construction site,
infested with sand fleas.
- [Woman] I am covered in bites.
- Plays that people
were tweeting
and like sharing pictures of
how atrocious the situation was.
- [Girl] Can someone
call me an Uber?
- Fyre Festival was kind
of like a cosmic joke
on all of these influencers
who believed the hype.
- The real victims in Fyre Fest
where the people who
had made contracts
and agreed to provide work,
food for this festival.
- [Narrator] 200
local contractors
were brought in to prep the
festival, none were paid.
They're still owed $250,000.
- Some folks invested their
life savings into this
and got nothing in return.
- Like Maryann Role,
she put down $50,000
to equip her restaurant
for the promised
flood of customers.
She didn't see a penny
and she still owed $135,000.
Meanwhile, Billy McFarland
has caught the
attention of the FBI.
- Yeah, wait, what?
- [Narrator] He is slapped
with seven lawsuits,
sentenced to six years
in prison for fraud
and is forced to pay $26
million to investors.
He starts with the
greatest party ever
and ends up behind bars.
- Fyre Festival was
kind of trying to force
this false community
on a group of people who
had nothing in common
but the fact that they
wanted to have their photo
on social media.
- [Girl] If I don't
look cute, delete it.
- [Narrator] The fact is,
you don't need to spend
millions on social media.
You can start a revolutionary
party with two friends,
one match, and one
can of gasoline.
- [Man] Let there be light.
- Larry Harvey and Jerry James
basically wanna
stick it to the man.
- [Narrator] It's 1986 In
Noey Valley, California,
they hammered
together scrap wood
into an eight-foot human figure.
- And I believe they
made a little dog as well
to go with it.
And they took it
down to Baker Beach.
- [Narrator] There they
soak it all in gasoline
and set the effigy alight.
- Woo-hoo (indistinct)
- [Woman] Did anyone
bring marshmallows?
- First year 40
people gathered around
watching this man burn.
They probably turned
to each other and went,
hey, let's do this
again sometime. (laughs)
(upbeat music)
- [Narrator] Today, it's
one of the wildest parties
and radical cultural movements
on earth, Burning Man.
- It's a temporary
community or temporary city.
- There's art installations,
music, incredible costumes.
- It's really like stepping
into a fancy land for adults.
- Where people
could come together
to create things that really
push their boundaries.
- My daughter was
conceived at Burning Man,
so that was quite a
transformative thing
to happen. (laughs)
- Burning Man is really cool.
Burning Man is like more like
Woodstock than Fyre Festival.
- My friends have built this
big giant robot dragon
every year that spits fire
that they bring down,
I'm not kidding.
- [Narrator] But every year
has the same crescendo,
burning the man.
- [Woman] Marshmallows, anyone?
- [Narrator] It reaches its
highest in 2014, at 105 feet.
There are hundreds of art
installations and shows,
80,000 attendees.
But the most important number
at burning man is zero.
- There's no money
at Burning Man.
You bring gifts with you.
This, can you see it?
I was gifted this ring.
I met an Australian guy,
we were having a really
lovely conversation
and he says, I run my
own jewelry company.
I've brought two prototypes
of this ring with me
and I want you to have this one.
And it's actually making
me feel a bit emotional,
even talking about it.
You bring joy to people and
that joy can be continuous joy
if it's something as
long-lasting as this, I guess.
- But even though the
Burning Man Festival
is against commodification,
things have gotten
really expensive.
- [Narrator] Between
a ticket, vehicle,
accommodations, food, water
and survival supplies,
you're looking at an
average of $1,500 to attend.
So if you want, you
can shell out $16,500
for an air-conditioned
quasi villa.
- It's a lot of money for me,
but the experience that
you get in Burning Man
is absolutely priceless.
- [Narrator] And the
movement is still growing.
There are now 50
burns worldwide,
all sparked from just
two rebellious friends.
- Who doesn't wanna stick
it to the man? (laughs)
(upbeat music)
- [Narrator] Human
beings have been partying
since the dawn of time.
- Probably our earliest
evidence of partying
is the sight of Gobekli
Tepe over 12,000 years ago.
- [Narrator] In 12,000 years,
a handful have become
truly timeless.
Parties that changed
the course of history,
sometimes in surprising ways.
So, can a party end
200 years of war?
It's 1520, France and
England have been enemies
for two centuries.
- [Old Man] I'm so sick of this.
- Both countries have
two very handsome, young,
athletic, charming kings,
Francois and Henry VIII.
- [Man] Hot boys.
- Cardinal Thomas Wolsey
is the power behind the throne.
And he's thinking to himself,
how do I get these two young
wild men to come together?
Of course I'll throw a party.
This giant celebration
that is part diplomatic
summit, part festival
and all glamor and regal access.
- Ulalaa.
- Most parties that
I have ever been to
have actually
resulted in conflicts.
- Yeah, every time my
friends are fighting
I just make them all get
into a room together.
I just make them fight it out.
- If someone threw
a party for me
and invited somebody
that I didn't like
hoping to bring us together,
that would do the
exact opposite.
- [Narrator] They agreed
to meet in Calais,
at the border of
English territory for
a commitment to peace
and a chance to show off.
They call it the Field
of the Cloth of Gold,
after a fabric made by
weaving silk and gold.
The kings cover their
tents and costumes with it.
- [Old Man] Ooh, looking good.
- [Narrator] It's a ridiculously
expensive olive branch.
- The Field of Cloth of Gold
costs an enormous amount of
money for both countries.
- [Narrator] In total,
about 63,000 pounds
are spent on the Field
of the Cloth of Gold.
In 1520, that kind of money
can get you 165,000
cows or 45,000 horses,
or hire 2.1 million
laborers for a day.
Which is around the
entire population
of England and
Wales at the time.
England's annual income at
the time was 90,000 pounds
and Henry spends 36,000.
- [Woman] Bloody hell.
- [Narrator] He blows
more than one third
of all the money England
had to spend that year.
(horse neighing)
- It was basically a funfair
built in the middle of a field.
And so you had all of
these artificial palaces
and tents springing up.
- [Narrator] The English camp
covers 107,000 square feet
with 2,800 tents.
- [Woman] Damn.
- [Narrator] Henry's is 330
feet long and 33 feet high,
painted to look like stonework.
Inside, is an ornate 12
foot tall fountain of wine.
- [Man] Don't mind if I do.
- [Narrator] Free to
anyone who walked by.
- There's fencing,
there's jousting.
Cardinal Wolsey thinks he's got
a huge success on his hands.
(storm roaring)
- [Narrator] Until a
bout of bad weather
forces these two
party animals indoors.
- You've got two very
competitive Kings
kind of stuck in
a tent together.
- [Narrator] As the rain keeps
falling, they keep drinking.
- This will be
better than France.
- By France you mean England?
- [Narrator] Until Henry
gets the liquid courage
to grab Francois and challenge
him to a wrestling match.
- And by all accounts,
Henry should have had
all the advantages
because Henry was much taller
and in much better shape.
- [Narrator] In
fact, Henry's huge.
- That's why I got massive.
- [Narrator] Six-foot-two when
men averaged five-foot-four.
And he excels at a regional
style of Cornish wrestling.
They step out and square up,
but Francois has a surprise.
- The French king
did some weird trick
where he basically tripped him.
- [Narrator] That trick is
known as the Breton trip.
Turns out Francois is
a crack wrestler too.
- Viva la France.
- And Henry lost the match.
- [Narrator] The
peace doesn't last.
They started with
the most expensive
olive branch in history,
and they end up
back at war in 1522.
- Oh, my head.
- [Narrator] And then there's
the type of party animal
who demands your attendance.
- Dictators and
autocrats love flaunting
their wealth and power.
And this also plays into
the fact that many dictators
are incredibly narcissistic
and this plays into
all their fantasies.
- [Narrator] It's 1971,
and the Shah of Iran,
self-proclaimed king of kings
decides to throw a
ridiculous party.
By the time he's done,
$17 million will magically
become 200 million
and the middle east
will never be the same.
- In the early 1970s, the oil
boom was playing a huge role
in Iranian politics.
Oil wealth was helping
to both modernize,
industrialize and
westernize Iran.
- No one benefits
more than the Shah,
whose personal wealth
approaches $1 billion.
- I'm so rich.
- [Narrator] He uses
the 2500th anniversary
of the Persian Empire
to show the world
his new vision for Iran.
- Attracting world
leaders from 65 countries
all around the world
to showcase how
far Iran has come.
- [Narrator] But not
everyone is on board.
- And just who is not on board?
- One of the biggest
critics of the Shah
was the Ayatollah Khomeini.
- For him, this party
was a satanic party,
nothing about it was Iranian,
nothing about it was Islamic.
- [Narrator] The Shah
stages a massive parade
at the ruins of Persepolis,
an ancient Persian city.
He demands a lavish 160
acre tent city next to it,
in the middle of the desert.
- With 54 air conditioned tents
with 18 kilometers
of silk brought in
just to build these tents.
- [Narrator] 150 tons of
kitchen equipment is flown in
for an extravagant banquet.
The Shah orders cool
organizer, Felix Real
to make sure it goes
off without a hitch.
- Steady, steady.
- [Narrator] Right now
he's in charge of the wine
at $3,000 per bottle.
- There are over 2,500
bottles of champagne,
a thousand bottles of Burgundy,
a thousand bottles of Bordeaux.
He had to ensure that every
single bottle was free of poison
and free of cork.
- (indistinct),
no cyanide, next.
- $3,000 for a bottle of wine
seems like an excessive
way to get drunk.
- I usually buy my wine based
on size instead of quality.
- I can get a nice
used car for that.
Well, not nice, just a car.
- [Narrator] The banquet goes
on for five and a half hours.
- People were
having a great time.
From the Shah's perspective
the celebration
was a huge success.
- [Narrator] The trouble starts
after everyone has gone home.
- It's time to clean up now.
And because it was
so incredibly hot out
the wait staff, all of whom
were from Switzerland and France
were watching in horror
as the soldiers were
pouring bottles of wine
worth thousands of
dollars over their bodies
in order to cool themselves off.
- Now that's better.
- While other bottles
were being chucked
off into the trash.
- [Narrator] The
staff rushes forward
to try and save as
much as they can.
- Not the wine, not the wine.
- [Narrator] Dumping
money down the drain
is exactly how Iran sees
the whole extravagant party.
- Ah, seriously!
(upbeat music)
- The way that it was
retold exaggerated,
it gave fodder to his
enemies to use against him.
- [Narrator] The numbers
reported in the press
just keep growing.
12,000 bottles of whiskey
turns into 25,000 bottles.
The official budget
is $17 million.
One of the organizers
says it's $22 million,
Time Magazine quotes
it at $100 million.
The French press
says 200 million.
But if there's one item
that tells this story,
it's the caviar.
66 pounds somehow
becomes 330 pounds.
And then one ton, then 50 tones.
By the time the press
is done with it,
there's 1,666 times as
much caviar at the table.
- We were talking about
the tons of caviar.
It's like (indistinct) tons
of caviar on the planet.
- [Narrator] And that
kind of exaggeration
is perfect for
Ayatollah Khomeini.
- He was able to capitalize
on the discontent
that was brewing.
- [Narrator] Until in 1979,
the spark he lit
becomes an inferno.
- You had the Shah
ousted from power
Ayatollah Khomeini
rises to power.
This was the first domino
in a series of events
that would have a huge
impact on the region.
- [Narrator] The Shah wanted
to show off his brand new Iran.
He ends up in exile,
and the Middle East
will never be the same.
(gun blasting)
It doesn't get much worse
than losing your country
because of a party,
unless of course you're
the Romanovs of Russia.
- Many have said this
is one of the most
insensitive parties in history.
- [Narrator] The
story of the 1903 Ball
ends with seven murders,
and it starts with 365 signs
that it's a terrible idea.
- The turn of the century Russia
is a story of excess
and extreme poverty.
- People were starving
in some cases,
and it was difficult
to access food.
- In St. Petersburg
you still have
this ultra ultra rich
society of aristocrats.
- [Narrator] In 1902, the army
has to be called in 365 times
to crush worker protests.
- Get ready for another one.
- [Narrator] But the
300th anniversary
of the Romanov
dynasty is coming up.
So the Romanovs are
obliged to throw a party
to celebrate themselves.
- They wanted to celebrate
the period of Russian
history in the 1600s
when Imperial Russia was
one of the great powers.
- Those were the days.
- [Narrator] And if
you think the get-ups
at the Met Gala
are over the top,
Rihanna's got nothing
on Russian aristocracy.
- They were wearing
these very heavy capes
and head dresses
covered in jewels
and these heavy, heavy furs.
It said that their necks
could barely be held up
because these headpieces
were so very heavy.
- Nyiet, take that Riri.
- [Narrator] Each
of the 390 guests
wears a meticulously
designed costume.
Some have been valued at
over $10 million today.
For the price of just
one of those costumes,
they could have given
the starving populous
more than 1, 100,000
pounds of butter,
more than 3 million
pounds of ham,
more than 28 million eggs
or almost 280,000 cows.
As beautiful as
the costumes are,
it's not a good look.
- It threw opulence in the
face of people who had nothing.
- By 1905, there
would be an uprising
protesting the royal family.
- [Narrator] 120,000
furious workers
march on the palace and are
met by soldiers who open fire.
The massacre will eventually
lead to the revolution,
driving the Romanovs
from their palace
to a village in Siberia.
Seven of the banished Romanovs
are murdered in
one bloody night.
- Maybe party bad idea.
- [Narrator] There's
a direct line
from their costume ball to
the end of Tsarist Russia
and the beginning
of the Soviet Union.
And believe it or not,
the little village where they
were murdered now throws,
you guessed it, a party
called Tsar's Days.
Proving even the darkest moments
can lead to celebrations.
And now for something
completely different.
1969, New York City.
Being gay is illegal
in 49 states.
Eight cops and
one resolute woman
are about to spark a party
that is changing the
world to this day.
The Stonewall Inn is
a well-known gay bar
in Greenwich Village.
They've already suffered
repeated harassment by the NYPD.
June 28th, 1:20 am, eight police
hammer on the
Stonewalls double doors.
- [Police] Police,
open up in there.
- [Narrator] 205 people
inside the bar try to scatter,
but the doors are barred.
The police arrest as
many people as they can,
but a crowd is gathering.
(siren wailing)
- And I can just see
that wall of love
stating that they're
gonna love who they want,
they're gonna identify
how they want.
- While resisting arrest, one
woman shouts to onlookers.
- Why don't you
guys do something?
- [Narrator] It leads to a
riot and then more protests.
- And they said, you know what?
We're gonna party whether
you like it or not.
They laid the work
of the Pride Movement
in New York in 1969.
And this is where we are today.
- [Narrator] In 2019,
5 million people
participate in New
York's pride parade.
- So some of the
sights and sounds
that you're gonna find at
a pride parade, whistles.
(whistle blowing)
- There's a lot of good glitter,
which you will never get off.
- I'm pretty sure I still have
glitter in my hair from it.
- You have to be
naked, that's fun.
- But it's not
like a weird naked,
it's like a wholesome naked.
- [Narrator] Today, there
are still 71 countries
where same-sex couples
are criminalized.
But Pride's message of
freedom and acceptance
has gone global.
From the first parades
in 1970 in Chicago,
New York and San Francisco,
pride spreads around the world.
- Having 150 prides
worldwide is amazing,
but we will not stop until
there can be a pride parade
in every country in the world.
We can change the world,
one pride at a time.
- [Narrator] Parties can
bring change, raise awareness
and make the world
a better place.
But maybe the best
thing about a party is,
you don't need a reason.
And if there's one that proves
we will take absolutely any
excuse to be party animals,
it's Tomatina in Spain.
A party founded on a
prank and a food fight.
- I think lots of celebrations
and festivals and carnivals
have deep roots and
strong political messages,
but Tomatina is not like that.
- [Narrator] At least if
you believe the legend
of how it started in 1945.
(upbeat music)
- The town of Bunol was
hosting one of the mill parade.
There were musicians
and performers
with these giant
(indistinct) heads on,
and there were a
group of cheeky kids
that tripped over one
of these performance.
And the performers they've
got this giant mask
on their head they
can't see properly,
they're stumbling about,
they're crashing into people.
(woman screaming)
- [Man] Hey, watch out.
- [Narrator] Spectators
grab tomatoes
from nearby vegetable stands
and throw them at
the poor performer.
- Initially, the target's
just the performers
but soon everyone is being
helped to big tomatoes.
- Food fight.
- And Tomatina was born.
- [Narrator] That prank
starts a tradition
that's lasted more
than 75 years.
Today, the tomatoes
are still flying,
only now, they need to bring
in 264,000 pounds of them
and limit attendance to 20,000.
With that many tomatoes,
you can also serve 1, 280,000
portions of spaghetti bolognese,
make 640,000 pizzas or
throw about 24,000 tomatoes
at every act at Woodstock.
- Oh, come on, man.
- Party where they
throw tomatoes,
that sounds like a
comedian's worst nightmare.
- I think it's a
waste of tomatoes.
- Why, you want the whole
city smell like a Big Caesar?
No, not for me.
- I don't think humans need
much of an excuse to party.
And I think La Tomatina
is a good example,
if there isn't an excuse to
party, we'll just make one up.
(upbeat music)
We need celebrations, we
need to be with other people.
From small scale celebrations
to large mass community events.
- You see a whole
different side of somebody
when you're at a party.
You see their human side and
you see their playful side.
I'm gonna party hard
until the sun comes up ♪
- Your mind's just open to
sort of sharing a bit more.
- They bring people together
in terms of romance,
in terms of friendship.
- They allow us
to blow off steam,
it's a pressure
valve for society.
- To have fun, to let loose,
to let your guard down.
- You're part of
something bigger,
and ultimately maybe something
bigger than just humanity.
Global, universal, cosmic.
- If I had to describe
a party in one sentence,
I would say a party
as the moment in time
that is second to none.
- Whether we do it for
ourselves, for someone we love,
to change the world
or just to celebrate
another trip around the sun,
the numbers don't lie,
we're wired to be party animals.
- I see no harm in
finding reasons to
celebrate or be happy.
- I'm the life of the party,
so how could I deprive these
poor people of my presence?
- It's just the part of us
as human beings that
needs to momentarily
be outside ourselves and
not be cognizant of ourself
and our ego and all that stuff.
- I think there's always
an excuse to party.
If you break up
with someone, party.
If you get a new job, party.
If you had a bad
week, party, no shame.
(fireworks cracking)
(upbeat music)
- I'm definitely a party animal.
- I've been partying
for 33 years.
- What does it take?
(indistinct)
A complete disregard
for one's own health.
- If I get 10 nuggets instead
of six, that's a party.
- Just embrace your
degeneracy, is what I say.
- The desire to party
is a universal instinct.
It's not limited by
nationality, religion, culture.
- [Narrator] The fact is,
we are all party animals.
In the US alone, 29% of us
throw a party every month,
6% throw one every day.
And that means you
could get invited
to over 19 million parties.
- Over 19 Million.
- 19 Million.
- 19 million parties.
- [Narrator] And any one of them
could change the
course of history.
- Parties have been at the
center of social movements,
they have stopped wars from
happening, they've started wars.
- Parties have been
very instrumental
in shaping what our
society is today.
- [Narrator] This is the story
of how 13 parties
became legends.
The party animals behind them
start with a simple plan.
They don't mean to
change the world,
but you never know where
a party might take you.
And by roaring success
or disastrous failure,
all of them will
go down in history.
(gunshots firing)
- Ooh, the best party
I've ever been to,
it's my 30th birthday party,
I don't remember any of it.
(upbeat music)
(rocket roaring)
(indistinct radio chatter)
(fireworks cracking)
- [Narrator] So, what
if you just wanna go
to the biggest party on earth?
Five days, more than
600 block parties
and 6 million of
your closest friends.
- People often asked me the
best party I've ever been to,
immediately I can
say the Rio carnival.
It's like nothing else on earth.
(upbeat music)
Brazil generally is a
profoundly unequal society,
but everyone
celebrates carnival.
- The traditions of
carnival go back centuries.
But today the soul
of the celebration
is Samba music and dance.
- The music is really the
sound of the Rio carnival.
- [Narrator] That carefree sound
has roots in subjugation
and resilience.
It's the story of centuries
of musical evolution,
4.9 million Africans and one
out of work sports journalist.
Until the late 1800s,
Brazil is a major hub
for the slave trade.
- More enslaved Africans
were sent to Brazil
than any other country
in the Americas.
- [Narrator] And their
culture comes with them.
- Samba music and culture
started to develop in
black neighborhoods.
It draws on African influences,
but also fuses them with
indigenous Brazilian
and European influences
to create something new.
There was a lot of
pushback from whites,
upper-class Brazilian society,
but the music was just too good.
And it diffuse throughout
Brazilian society.
- [Narrator] By the
1930s, Samba is everywhere
and becomes the
heartbeat of carnival.
- So it's 1932 and journalist
and writer, Maron Filho
is stuck with things
to write about
after the end of
the football season.
- [Narrator] Filho
is already infamous
for hyping football matches,
why not do the same with
Samba in the off season?
- So he decides to
sponsor the first
unofficial Samba parade.
It's a huge success.
Filho is nicknamed "The
creator of crowds",
and this is the birth of
the modern Samba parades.
- [Narrator] Maron Filho
just wanted something
to write about, but he
changes carnival forever.
Today, they parade in
the 2,300 foot long,
90,000-seat, Sambadrome,
the heart of carnival.
More than 70 Samba schools
compete for 12
spots in the finals.
Each school tells a story
using six massive floats.
The schools are
divided into allies,
each with 100 or
more performers.
The drum section alone
can have 200 players.
A top 12 Samba school can
have 4,000 performers.
In total, 30,000
compete over two nights.
- [Shafik] The
performances often make
an important political message.
They're used to raise
important issues.
- Football is life.
- [Shafik] The
winners get a trophy-
- Oh yeah!
- But most importantly,
they get bragging rights in
Rio for the rest of the year.
And you can't put
a price on that.
But I think for tourists
and particularly if that's
their first introduction
to Brazil and Brazilian
culture, it gets you hooked.
You wanna keep going
back again and again.
- [Narrator] Parties just do
not get bigger than carnival.
But sometimes it's
about who isn't invited.
- If you look at history,
exclusivity of a party is
such an important thing.
- Look how cool I am, I'm
on the list and you're not.
- We're gonna think
we're having a good time
because no one
else gets to come.
- [Narrator] But one of the most
exclusive parties
in Hollywood today
starts with 40 folding
chairs and two TVs.
(upbeat music)
It's 1964 Beverly Hills.
Inside the Bistro
Restaurant, Swifty Lazar-
- [Swifty] What do you want?
- [Narrator] And his wife,
Mary, are hard at work.
- So Swifty Lazar was kind of
one of Hollywood's
first super agents.
And he revolutionized his image
when he started throwing
this intimate Oscar party.
- [Narrator] They roll in
two TVs and folding chairs.
- [Swifty] Come on, honey,
put your back into it.
- [Mary] I am.
- [Narrator] The
furniture is unremarkable,
but the butts in these
seats will be A-list.
- And this party was initially
kind of a creme de la creme
of their personal
friends in Hollywood.
- Jimmy Stuart.
- Hello.
- Gregory Peck.
- Hello.
- Jack Lemmon.
- Hi.
- Billy Wilder.
- How's it going?
- [Narrator] Everyone who
isn't at the Oscars themselves.
- You were with the kind of
old school guard of Hollywood
watching the most important
thing to Hollywood,
which is the Academy Awards.
And so it wasn't really about
the accoutrements of the party.
- Swifty serves
discount beef stew
while they watch the show.
- [Man] This' pretty good.
- [Narrator] And he rules
the room with an iron fist.
- You hear people talk
about Swifty's parties,
and they don't sound
like a lot of fun.
Swifty would shush
you if you talk.
- Hey, shut up!
- Sorry.
The party stays small,
though he adds seven TVs,
but its reputation grows fast.
Swifty wanted an
intimate little dinner,
now people say it's easier to
get a ticket to the Oscars.
- He got a thrill out of now
being this wheeler and dealer
who decided who was
cool and who wasn't.
- [Narrator] And for 28 years,
Swifty Lazar lords
over Hollywood.
When he dies in 1993,
he leaves a huge gap
in the party scene.
(upbeat music)
- His party gets re-imagined
and reinvented by Graydon
Carter of Vanity Fair.
This becomes an A-list party
where all the celebrities
are basically required to go
to see and be seen.
- This suit is so itchy!
- [Narrator] Vanity Fair one-ups
everything about Swiftys.
From 40 people in folding chairs
to 130 at the viewing dinner,
with 500 throughout the night.
From invite-only to $80,000
bid on a pair of tickets.
From nine TVs to eight,
but now there are
giant flat screens.
- Hurray.
- [Narrator] 420 bottles
of champagne on hand,
3,000 roses used in
table centerpieces.
(sniffing)
- [Woman] Smells expensive.
- [Narrator] And 800
In-N-Out Burger served.
A nod to the party's
humble beef stew origins.
- [Man] Mmh, beefy.
- [Narrator] Graydon Carter
wants the biggest
party in Hollywood.
But bigger isn't always better.
(indistinct)
- Okay, having famous
people at a party
adds a lot of boredom,
honestly, they suck.
Oh, have you heard
of my new album?
You're like, okay, relax.
(upbeat music)
- The Vanity Fair party
is almost instantly more
about the red carpet
than the actual party.
- [Musician] Hey, have
you heard of my new album?
- [Narrator] And
once you're inside,
everyone with a
smartphone is a paparazzi.
- It feels more like
a performative party
instead of an intimate party.
- [Narrator] Swifty
had mystique,
Vanity Fair has extravagance.
For the best of both, you
need to travel 2,500 miles
to the Oscars of the east.
(upbeat music)
$35,000 dresses,
$300,000 necklaces,
$800,000 diamond rings.
Just another night
at the Met Gala.
- The Met Gala is
the most glamorous,
avant garde mainstream
party in the world.
- And that's thanks to co
organizer, Anna Wintour,
editor of Vogue for
33 years running,
and inspiration for the devil
in "The Devil Wears Prada."
- [Anna] I'm so powerful,
I can destroy any of you.
- Anna Wintour controls
everything, everywhere,
and the Met Gala
is no exception.
It really is her vision.
- [Narrator] Her exacting
eye and iron fist
have made every year more
talked about than the last.
- But you're not invited, Mel.
- I got the Met Gala.
I have thought about
this my whole life.
- I like what Jaden Smith did,
which is to cut off his dreads
and just hold them in his hand.
- (indistinct) got to
show up dressed as a pope,
or whatever that
dress Rihanna had on
that made her look like
an extra large pizza.
- Excuse me.
- I think I'd wear something
like really revealing,
but made of luncheon
meat, you know.
Like low cut and cold cuts.
- I would want like fur,
but like a live animal.
Just have a couple of mix,
you know, (beep) why not.
(beep) Met Gala.
- [Narrator] In 1960, a ticket
would have cost you $100,
now?
- $35,000.
I think that tells you that it
truly is the most exclusive,
most fabulous party
currently in America.
- [Narrator] Anna Wintour
has taken a humble fundraiser
and made it a guiding
light of the fashion world.
And what about those
smartphone paparazzi?
- So the Met Gala has
this amazing mystique.
Because, once you get inside
to the actual museum itself,
you can't take pictures,
and you are the only one who
knows what happened there.
I mean that alone
is a dream, right?
If I ever had $35,000 around,
I might spend that
on the Met Gala,
just to see it just once.
- I can't see anything.
- [Narrator] New
York has no shortage
of ultra exclusive gatherings,
but one stands out
above the rest.
The capstone of
1960s high society,
the party of the century.
November 28th, 1966,
the night Truman Capote made
500 friends and 15,000 enemies.
- Truman Capote grew
up in rural Alabama
and he was kind of dumped
off by his parents.
He was very different
from the boys in Alabama.
- Hi.
- And when he gets
to New York city,
he's really kind of angry
'cause he feels like I deserve
to be one of these people.
- [Narrator] He channels his
resentment into his book,
"Breakfast at Tiffany's".
It becomes a sensation.
His followup is
totally unexpected.
- Truman became obsessed
with the murder of the Clutter
family in rural Kansas,
where an entire family was
massacred by two thugs.
- [Narrator] After six years
and 8,000 pages of notes
he emerges with "In Cold Blood".
- And when "In Cold
Blood" comes out in 1966,
it is a mammoth hit.
- [Narrator] "Breakfast at
Tiffany's" sold for $2,000,
"In Cold Blood"
gets him $2 million.
He makes a thousand
times more money.
- So it's the super
high point for him.
- [Narrator] Capote's ready
to crown himself king,
and to plan his coronation,
he calls it the
Black and White Ball,
after his two-tone dress code.
He obsesses over the
540-person guest list.
- Definitely not him.
- 'Cause this
guest list combined
so many different
types of people.
He kind of wanted to
do a science experiment
and stick them all together
and see what happened.
- [Narrator] This
gives him another idea.
Everyone in masks.
- [Narrator] I think
he would have said
that it was intended
to be a leveler, right?
Even if you're a nobody
and that's Rose Kennedy,
you can chat with them
and be on equal footing.
- Capote gets his own
mask for 39 cents,
Candace Bergen's
spends $250 on hers.
Everyone agrees
that people watching
is the best part of the night,
including the few who
actually managed to gatecrash.
- So, Susan Payson and her
date, Jerry Jones from Texas,
see all this fuss and commotion
going on at the Plaza.
And somehow they get into the
actual Black and White Ball.
- You did it, okay,
okay, play it cool.
- [Narrator] All of a sudden
they're seeing Mia
Farrow and Frank Sinatra.
- [Jerry] (chuckles)
No one knows it's us.
- [Susan] Hey, is
that Frank Sinatra?
- [Narrator] As Susan says,
every person in the world
whose face I'd seen in
the papers walking by.
- And Truman comes up to
them and they say hello.
- [Susan] Hello, Mr.
Capote, I'm Susan.
- And he's like,
"Oh yes, of course."
And he sits them down
with all of the folks
who were featured prominently
in the book "In Cold Blood".
And so Susan was just so excited
that she's sitting at the table
with all these real
life characters
she had just read about.
- Weaving in between Mia
Farrow and Frank Sinatra,
Susan, the gatecrasher
dances with the police
detective from Kansas.
And at the stroke of
midnight, the masks come off.
- [Susan] Oh, it's,
still Frank Sinatra.
- It was a bit of a let down.
I mean, you knew who
people were already.
The frenzy to get on the list
was actually much more
exciting than the party itself.
- [Narrator] His guest
list becomes shorthand
for whether you were part
of New York society or not.
One man tells Capote his
wife will commit suicide
if she's not invited.
- It said that he
would constantly say
you may or may not be
invited to everybody he saw.
It was that little outcast
boy really getting his kicks
from making the cool kids
quake in their boots.
- Take that bullies.
- [Narrator] It's been said
that night he made 500 friends,
his coveted guest list
and 15,000 enemies,
the social elite who
couldn't get an invite.
- The Black and White Ball
was really the last hurrah
of this certain kind of
international jet set society.
And it has become this
cultural touchstone
in American history.
- [Narrator] Truman Capote
turns his personal vindication
into the party of the century.
(upbeat music)
But just three years
later and 80 miles away,
another era-defining
party will take place.
The Black and White Ball was
all about keeping people out,
this one will have to
let 400,000 people in.
- This was a time of great
racial violence in the country.
It was a time of
the Vietnam War.
Around the world there
were student-led protests
for democracy and
against authoritarianism.
- And in upstate New York,
Michael Lang is
getting desperate.
No one wants his hippie
music festival in their town.
It seems like a garden
variety concert,
an Aquarian Exposition, three
days of peace and music.
But history will
remember it as Woodstock,
the Zenith of '60s
counterculture.
- You have to understand
that they secured
Maxi Yasgur's farm
about five, six days
before this festival.
Woodstock in many
ways was a miracle.
It's also an accident.
They thought maybe they'd
get 100,000 people.
And they would have
been really happy
if they had 100,000
paying people.
- [Narrator] 1 Million
try to get to the concert
and the concert is
not ready for them.
- Move, move it.
- [Narrator]
Traffic is backed up
more than 16 miles
around the farm.
A two-hour drive
from New York city
becomes an eight-hour gridlock,
but at least 400,000
still make it to the farm.
- So at that point, they
just realize this is free.
Forget making money
now we've got to control
what could be a disaster.
We need to get
enough porta potties
to serve an audience.
And how many porta
potties does any one
porta potty company have?
Not enough.
(toilet flushing)
- [Narrator] They get
600, one for 666 people.
The wait average is one hour.
- [Man] It's an emergency,
it's an emergency.
- It just looks like a huge
mass of people in the mud.
But people just seem to
be having a great time.
- Torrential rain, heat stroke,
inadequate food,
inadequate water,
inadequate sanitation
facilities.
People will go through
hell for that music.
- [Narrator] 32 musical
icons like Richie Havens,
Janice Joplin and Santana
provide the soundtrack
to three days
of peace, love and LSD.
- It helps us symbolize
the spirits of the '60s,
the counterculture.
Even now people
still refer to it.
- And then you'd have people
doing electric Koolaid,
everyone puts in
whatever drugs they have.
So people could be ingesting
LSD without intending to.
- Oh man, I don't feel so good.
- Being dosed with any
drug without your knowledge
it would be the least cool thing
to ever happen to a person.
- I guess I would
just taste the music.
- Maybe they had a good time.
- Oh God, that's terrifying.
- I'm not condoning doing that.
I just wanna make sure
everyone knows that.
- [Narrator] There
are 18 doctors
and 36 nurses at Woodstock.
One for every 7,407 people.
They deal with around
25 freakouts per hour.
(man screaming)
In all, they treat
742 drug overdoses.
Only two people
die at Woodstock.
One of an overdose, one from
being accidentally run over.
Rumor has it two
babies are born.
So the same number of
people left as arrived.
They just weren't
the same people.
- For the other thing
about Woodstock,
besides the incredible music
is people were together
under horrific conditions
for three days,
and there's no
violence to speak of.
- [Narrator] Well,
almost no violence.
It's early Sunday morning,
August 16th, 1969,
The Who has just finished
"Pinball Wizard",
Pete Townsend steps
back from the mic,
that's when social activist,
Abbie Hoffman makes his move.
- [Abbie] Oh man,
there's my chance.
- Abbie wanted to
radicalize Woodstock,
he just couldn't resist.
He ran up to one
of the microphones
and started talking
about the revolution.
- [Abbie] I think this
is a pile of (beep).
- [Narrator] Townsend
drowns him out.
- [Townsend] Get off the
stage you (beep) donkey.
- Pete Townsend took
his fender guitar
and swung and hit Abbie
in the back of the head.
- [Narrator] The Who starts
to play their next song
"Do You Think It's All Right".
- Abbie Hoffman wasn't
seen again at the festival.
- [Narrator] Jimi
Hendrix closes out
Woodstock on Monday morning.
Only 25,000 people are
still there to hear it.
The organizers are left to
foot the bill for their party.
They spent a total
of $3.1 million.
They took in only 1.8 million.
They ended up having
to refund up to 10%
of the 186,000 advanced tickets
to those who never made it
through the traffic jam.
- The festival was a
financial disaster.
And the Woodstock
occurred in August '69,
they didn't recoup
their money till 1980.
- [Hippie] What, I
don't get it man.
- A lot of people think
they got rich quick.
Not at all, they recouped
finally 11 years later.
- [Narrator] But maybe it
was a small price to pay.
They start with a run
of the mill festival
and wind up with the Zenith
of the hippie movement.
The birth of the mega concert.
The cultural experience
of the decade.
(upbeat music)
48 years later,
another party animal
will try to do the same.
Woodstock defines the
spirit of the '60s,
this party defines the age of
social media in the worst way.
Forget 11 years in debt,
it will end with
six years in prison.
- I remember watching
the video and going like,
wow, that looks like, that looks
incredible, I'd love to go.
- [Narrator] In 2017, an ultra
fleek social media campaign
reaches 300 million
people in 24 hours.
It invites them to Fyre Fest,
the cultural experience
of the decade.
Music, models and swimming
with pigs on a private island.
People line up to spend
up to $12,000 on tickets.
- And even then it just seemed
a little bit too
good to be true.
- [Narrator] Behind the
social media curtain,
it's a very different story,
thanks to Fyre Fest
mastermind, Billy McFarland.
He wants the
greatest party ever,
he just doesn't wanna
do any of the work.
He gives his crew six to
eight weeks to make it happen.
- This tells you everything
about Billy McFarland.
Six to eight weeks is like
an absolutely tiny window
in terms of like the logistics
of putting on a festival.
- When hyped up guests
arrive at the island,
the party doesn't exist.
They were promised 10,000
ticket holders per weekend,
they got 5,000.
They were promised private
villas, they got FEMA tents.
They were promised
A-list musical acts,
they got no musical acts.
All at an abandoned
construction site,
infested with sand fleas.
- [Woman] I am covered in bites.
- Plays that people
were tweeting
and like sharing pictures of
how atrocious the situation was.
- [Girl] Can someone
call me an Uber?
- Fyre Festival was kind
of like a cosmic joke
on all of these influencers
who believed the hype.
- The real victims in Fyre Fest
where the people who
had made contracts
and agreed to provide work,
food for this festival.
- [Narrator] 200
local contractors
were brought in to prep the
festival, none were paid.
They're still owed $250,000.
- Some folks invested their
life savings into this
and got nothing in return.
- Like Maryann Role,
she put down $50,000
to equip her restaurant
for the promised
flood of customers.
She didn't see a penny
and she still owed $135,000.
Meanwhile, Billy McFarland
has caught the
attention of the FBI.
- Yeah, wait, what?
- [Narrator] He is slapped
with seven lawsuits,
sentenced to six years
in prison for fraud
and is forced to pay $26
million to investors.
He starts with the
greatest party ever
and ends up behind bars.
- Fyre Festival was
kind of trying to force
this false community
on a group of people who
had nothing in common
but the fact that they
wanted to have their photo
on social media.
- [Girl] If I don't
look cute, delete it.
- [Narrator] The fact is,
you don't need to spend
millions on social media.
You can start a revolutionary
party with two friends,
one match, and one
can of gasoline.
- [Man] Let there be light.
- Larry Harvey and Jerry James
basically wanna
stick it to the man.
- [Narrator] It's 1986 In
Noey Valley, California,
they hammered
together scrap wood
into an eight-foot human figure.
- And I believe they
made a little dog as well
to go with it.
And they took it
down to Baker Beach.
- [Narrator] There they
soak it all in gasoline
and set the effigy alight.
- Woo-hoo (indistinct)
- [Woman] Did anyone
bring marshmallows?
- First year 40
people gathered around
watching this man burn.
They probably turned
to each other and went,
hey, let's do this
again sometime. (laughs)
(upbeat music)
- [Narrator] Today, it's
one of the wildest parties
and radical cultural movements
on earth, Burning Man.
- It's a temporary
community or temporary city.
- There's art installations,
music, incredible costumes.
- It's really like stepping
into a fancy land for adults.
- Where people
could come together
to create things that really
push their boundaries.
- My daughter was
conceived at Burning Man,
so that was quite a
transformative thing
to happen. (laughs)
- Burning Man is really cool.
Burning Man is like more like
Woodstock than Fyre Festival.
- My friends have built this
big giant robot dragon
every year that spits fire
that they bring down,
I'm not kidding.
- [Narrator] But every year
has the same crescendo,
burning the man.
- [Woman] Marshmallows, anyone?
- [Narrator] It reaches its
highest in 2014, at 105 feet.
There are hundreds of art
installations and shows,
80,000 attendees.
But the most important number
at burning man is zero.
- There's no money
at Burning Man.
You bring gifts with you.
This, can you see it?
I was gifted this ring.
I met an Australian guy,
we were having a really
lovely conversation
and he says, I run my
own jewelry company.
I've brought two prototypes
of this ring with me
and I want you to have this one.
And it's actually making
me feel a bit emotional,
even talking about it.
You bring joy to people and
that joy can be continuous joy
if it's something as
long-lasting as this, I guess.
- But even though the
Burning Man Festival
is against commodification,
things have gotten
really expensive.
- [Narrator] Between
a ticket, vehicle,
accommodations, food, water
and survival supplies,
you're looking at an
average of $1,500 to attend.
So if you want, you
can shell out $16,500
for an air-conditioned
quasi villa.
- It's a lot of money for me,
but the experience that
you get in Burning Man
is absolutely priceless.
- [Narrator] And the
movement is still growing.
There are now 50
burns worldwide,
all sparked from just
two rebellious friends.
- Who doesn't wanna stick
it to the man? (laughs)
(upbeat music)
- [Narrator] Human
beings have been partying
since the dawn of time.
- Probably our earliest
evidence of partying
is the sight of Gobekli
Tepe over 12,000 years ago.
- [Narrator] In 12,000 years,
a handful have become
truly timeless.
Parties that changed
the course of history,
sometimes in surprising ways.
So, can a party end
200 years of war?
It's 1520, France and
England have been enemies
for two centuries.
- [Old Man] I'm so sick of this.
- Both countries have
two very handsome, young,
athletic, charming kings,
Francois and Henry VIII.
- [Man] Hot boys.
- Cardinal Thomas Wolsey
is the power behind the throne.
And he's thinking to himself,
how do I get these two young
wild men to come together?
Of course I'll throw a party.
This giant celebration
that is part diplomatic
summit, part festival
and all glamor and regal access.
- Ulalaa.
- Most parties that
I have ever been to
have actually
resulted in conflicts.
- Yeah, every time my
friends are fighting
I just make them all get
into a room together.
I just make them fight it out.
- If someone threw
a party for me
and invited somebody
that I didn't like
hoping to bring us together,
that would do the
exact opposite.
- [Narrator] They agreed
to meet in Calais,
at the border of
English territory for
a commitment to peace
and a chance to show off.
They call it the Field
of the Cloth of Gold,
after a fabric made by
weaving silk and gold.
The kings cover their
tents and costumes with it.
- [Old Man] Ooh, looking good.
- [Narrator] It's a ridiculously
expensive olive branch.
- The Field of Cloth of Gold
costs an enormous amount of
money for both countries.
- [Narrator] In total,
about 63,000 pounds
are spent on the Field
of the Cloth of Gold.
In 1520, that kind of money
can get you 165,000
cows or 45,000 horses,
or hire 2.1 million
laborers for a day.
Which is around the
entire population
of England and
Wales at the time.
England's annual income at
the time was 90,000 pounds
and Henry spends 36,000.
- [Woman] Bloody hell.
- [Narrator] He blows
more than one third
of all the money England
had to spend that year.
(horse neighing)
- It was basically a funfair
built in the middle of a field.
And so you had all of
these artificial palaces
and tents springing up.
- [Narrator] The English camp
covers 107,000 square feet
with 2,800 tents.
- [Woman] Damn.
- [Narrator] Henry's is 330
feet long and 33 feet high,
painted to look like stonework.
Inside, is an ornate 12
foot tall fountain of wine.
- [Man] Don't mind if I do.
- [Narrator] Free to
anyone who walked by.
- There's fencing,
there's jousting.
Cardinal Wolsey thinks he's got
a huge success on his hands.
(storm roaring)
- [Narrator] Until a
bout of bad weather
forces these two
party animals indoors.
- You've got two very
competitive Kings
kind of stuck in
a tent together.
- [Narrator] As the rain keeps
falling, they keep drinking.
- This will be
better than France.
- By France you mean England?
- [Narrator] Until Henry
gets the liquid courage
to grab Francois and challenge
him to a wrestling match.
- And by all accounts,
Henry should have had
all the advantages
because Henry was much taller
and in much better shape.
- [Narrator] In
fact, Henry's huge.
- That's why I got massive.
- [Narrator] Six-foot-two when
men averaged five-foot-four.
And he excels at a regional
style of Cornish wrestling.
They step out and square up,
but Francois has a surprise.
- The French king
did some weird trick
where he basically tripped him.
- [Narrator] That trick is
known as the Breton trip.
Turns out Francois is
a crack wrestler too.
- Viva la France.
- And Henry lost the match.
- [Narrator] The
peace doesn't last.
They started with
the most expensive
olive branch in history,
and they end up
back at war in 1522.
- Oh, my head.
- [Narrator] And then there's
the type of party animal
who demands your attendance.
- Dictators and
autocrats love flaunting
their wealth and power.
And this also plays into
the fact that many dictators
are incredibly narcissistic
and this plays into
all their fantasies.
- [Narrator] It's 1971,
and the Shah of Iran,
self-proclaimed king of kings
decides to throw a
ridiculous party.
By the time he's done,
$17 million will magically
become 200 million
and the middle east
will never be the same.
- In the early 1970s, the oil
boom was playing a huge role
in Iranian politics.
Oil wealth was helping
to both modernize,
industrialize and
westernize Iran.
- No one benefits
more than the Shah,
whose personal wealth
approaches $1 billion.
- I'm so rich.
- [Narrator] He uses
the 2500th anniversary
of the Persian Empire
to show the world
his new vision for Iran.
- Attracting world
leaders from 65 countries
all around the world
to showcase how
far Iran has come.
- [Narrator] But not
everyone is on board.
- And just who is not on board?
- One of the biggest
critics of the Shah
was the Ayatollah Khomeini.
- For him, this party
was a satanic party,
nothing about it was Iranian,
nothing about it was Islamic.
- [Narrator] The Shah
stages a massive parade
at the ruins of Persepolis,
an ancient Persian city.
He demands a lavish 160
acre tent city next to it,
in the middle of the desert.
- With 54 air conditioned tents
with 18 kilometers
of silk brought in
just to build these tents.
- [Narrator] 150 tons of
kitchen equipment is flown in
for an extravagant banquet.
The Shah orders cool
organizer, Felix Real
to make sure it goes
off without a hitch.
- Steady, steady.
- [Narrator] Right now
he's in charge of the wine
at $3,000 per bottle.
- There are over 2,500
bottles of champagne,
a thousand bottles of Burgundy,
a thousand bottles of Bordeaux.
He had to ensure that every
single bottle was free of poison
and free of cork.
- (indistinct),
no cyanide, next.
- $3,000 for a bottle of wine
seems like an excessive
way to get drunk.
- I usually buy my wine based
on size instead of quality.
- I can get a nice
used car for that.
Well, not nice, just a car.
- [Narrator] The banquet goes
on for five and a half hours.
- People were
having a great time.
From the Shah's perspective
the celebration
was a huge success.
- [Narrator] The trouble starts
after everyone has gone home.
- It's time to clean up now.
And because it was
so incredibly hot out
the wait staff, all of whom
were from Switzerland and France
were watching in horror
as the soldiers were
pouring bottles of wine
worth thousands of
dollars over their bodies
in order to cool themselves off.
- Now that's better.
- While other bottles
were being chucked
off into the trash.
- [Narrator] The
staff rushes forward
to try and save as
much as they can.
- Not the wine, not the wine.
- [Narrator] Dumping
money down the drain
is exactly how Iran sees
the whole extravagant party.
- Ah, seriously!
(upbeat music)
- The way that it was
retold exaggerated,
it gave fodder to his
enemies to use against him.
- [Narrator] The numbers
reported in the press
just keep growing.
12,000 bottles of whiskey
turns into 25,000 bottles.
The official budget
is $17 million.
One of the organizers
says it's $22 million,
Time Magazine quotes
it at $100 million.
The French press
says 200 million.
But if there's one item
that tells this story,
it's the caviar.
66 pounds somehow
becomes 330 pounds.
And then one ton, then 50 tones.
By the time the press
is done with it,
there's 1,666 times as
much caviar at the table.
- We were talking about
the tons of caviar.
It's like (indistinct) tons
of caviar on the planet.
- [Narrator] And that
kind of exaggeration
is perfect for
Ayatollah Khomeini.
- He was able to capitalize
on the discontent
that was brewing.
- [Narrator] Until in 1979,
the spark he lit
becomes an inferno.
- You had the Shah
ousted from power
Ayatollah Khomeini
rises to power.
This was the first domino
in a series of events
that would have a huge
impact on the region.
- [Narrator] The Shah wanted
to show off his brand new Iran.
He ends up in exile,
and the Middle East
will never be the same.
(gun blasting)
It doesn't get much worse
than losing your country
because of a party,
unless of course you're
the Romanovs of Russia.
- Many have said this
is one of the most
insensitive parties in history.
- [Narrator] The
story of the 1903 Ball
ends with seven murders,
and it starts with 365 signs
that it's a terrible idea.
- The turn of the century Russia
is a story of excess
and extreme poverty.
- People were starving
in some cases,
and it was difficult
to access food.
- In St. Petersburg
you still have
this ultra ultra rich
society of aristocrats.
- [Narrator] In 1902, the army
has to be called in 365 times
to crush worker protests.
- Get ready for another one.
- [Narrator] But the
300th anniversary
of the Romanov
dynasty is coming up.
So the Romanovs are
obliged to throw a party
to celebrate themselves.
- They wanted to celebrate
the period of Russian
history in the 1600s
when Imperial Russia was
one of the great powers.
- Those were the days.
- [Narrator] And if
you think the get-ups
at the Met Gala
are over the top,
Rihanna's got nothing
on Russian aristocracy.
- They were wearing
these very heavy capes
and head dresses
covered in jewels
and these heavy, heavy furs.
It said that their necks
could barely be held up
because these headpieces
were so very heavy.
- Nyiet, take that Riri.
- [Narrator] Each
of the 390 guests
wears a meticulously
designed costume.
Some have been valued at
over $10 million today.
For the price of just
one of those costumes,
they could have given
the starving populous
more than 1, 100,000
pounds of butter,
more than 3 million
pounds of ham,
more than 28 million eggs
or almost 280,000 cows.
As beautiful as
the costumes are,
it's not a good look.
- It threw opulence in the
face of people who had nothing.
- By 1905, there
would be an uprising
protesting the royal family.
- [Narrator] 120,000
furious workers
march on the palace and are
met by soldiers who open fire.
The massacre will eventually
lead to the revolution,
driving the Romanovs
from their palace
to a village in Siberia.
Seven of the banished Romanovs
are murdered in
one bloody night.
- Maybe party bad idea.
- [Narrator] There's
a direct line
from their costume ball to
the end of Tsarist Russia
and the beginning
of the Soviet Union.
And believe it or not,
the little village where they
were murdered now throws,
you guessed it, a party
called Tsar's Days.
Proving even the darkest moments
can lead to celebrations.
And now for something
completely different.
1969, New York City.
Being gay is illegal
in 49 states.
Eight cops and
one resolute woman
are about to spark a party
that is changing the
world to this day.
The Stonewall Inn is
a well-known gay bar
in Greenwich Village.
They've already suffered
repeated harassment by the NYPD.
June 28th, 1:20 am, eight police
hammer on the
Stonewalls double doors.
- [Police] Police,
open up in there.
- [Narrator] 205 people
inside the bar try to scatter,
but the doors are barred.
The police arrest as
many people as they can,
but a crowd is gathering.
(siren wailing)
- And I can just see
that wall of love
stating that they're
gonna love who they want,
they're gonna identify
how they want.
- While resisting arrest, one
woman shouts to onlookers.
- Why don't you
guys do something?
- [Narrator] It leads to a
riot and then more protests.
- And they said, you know what?
We're gonna party whether
you like it or not.
They laid the work
of the Pride Movement
in New York in 1969.
And this is where we are today.
- [Narrator] In 2019,
5 million people
participate in New
York's pride parade.
- So some of the
sights and sounds
that you're gonna find at
a pride parade, whistles.
(whistle blowing)
- There's a lot of good glitter,
which you will never get off.
- I'm pretty sure I still have
glitter in my hair from it.
- You have to be
naked, that's fun.
- But it's not
like a weird naked,
it's like a wholesome naked.
- [Narrator] Today, there
are still 71 countries
where same-sex couples
are criminalized.
But Pride's message of
freedom and acceptance
has gone global.
From the first parades
in 1970 in Chicago,
New York and San Francisco,
pride spreads around the world.
- Having 150 prides
worldwide is amazing,
but we will not stop until
there can be a pride parade
in every country in the world.
We can change the world,
one pride at a time.
- [Narrator] Parties can
bring change, raise awareness
and make the world
a better place.
But maybe the best
thing about a party is,
you don't need a reason.
And if there's one that proves
we will take absolutely any
excuse to be party animals,
it's Tomatina in Spain.
A party founded on a
prank and a food fight.
- I think lots of celebrations
and festivals and carnivals
have deep roots and
strong political messages,
but Tomatina is not like that.
- [Narrator] At least if
you believe the legend
of how it started in 1945.
(upbeat music)
- The town of Bunol was
hosting one of the mill parade.
There were musicians
and performers
with these giant
(indistinct) heads on,
and there were a
group of cheeky kids
that tripped over one
of these performance.
And the performers they've
got this giant mask
on their head they
can't see properly,
they're stumbling about,
they're crashing into people.
(woman screaming)
- [Man] Hey, watch out.
- [Narrator] Spectators
grab tomatoes
from nearby vegetable stands
and throw them at
the poor performer.
- Initially, the target's
just the performers
but soon everyone is being
helped to big tomatoes.
- Food fight.
- And Tomatina was born.
- [Narrator] That prank
starts a tradition
that's lasted more
than 75 years.
Today, the tomatoes
are still flying,
only now, they need to bring
in 264,000 pounds of them
and limit attendance to 20,000.
With that many tomatoes,
you can also serve 1, 280,000
portions of spaghetti bolognese,
make 640,000 pizzas or
throw about 24,000 tomatoes
at every act at Woodstock.
- Oh, come on, man.
- Party where they
throw tomatoes,
that sounds like a
comedian's worst nightmare.
- I think it's a
waste of tomatoes.
- Why, you want the whole
city smell like a Big Caesar?
No, not for me.
- I don't think humans need
much of an excuse to party.
And I think La Tomatina
is a good example,
if there isn't an excuse to
party, we'll just make one up.
(upbeat music)
We need celebrations, we
need to be with other people.
From small scale celebrations
to large mass community events.
- You see a whole
different side of somebody
when you're at a party.
You see their human side and
you see their playful side.
I'm gonna party hard
until the sun comes up ♪
- Your mind's just open to
sort of sharing a bit more.
- They bring people together
in terms of romance,
in terms of friendship.
- They allow us
to blow off steam,
it's a pressure
valve for society.
- To have fun, to let loose,
to let your guard down.
- You're part of
something bigger,
and ultimately maybe something
bigger than just humanity.
Global, universal, cosmic.
- If I had to describe
a party in one sentence,
I would say a party
as the moment in time
that is second to none.
- Whether we do it for
ourselves, for someone we love,
to change the world
or just to celebrate
another trip around the sun,
the numbers don't lie,
we're wired to be party animals.
- I see no harm in
finding reasons to
celebrate or be happy.
- I'm the life of the party,
so how could I deprive these
poor people of my presence?
- It's just the part of us
as human beings that
needs to momentarily
be outside ourselves and
not be cognizant of ourself
and our ego and all that stuff.
- I think there's always
an excuse to party.
If you break up
with someone, party.
If you get a new job, party.
If you had a bad
week, party, no shame.