Hear Philly: Philly's Most Glamorous Bash Celebrates Special Birthday This Weekend
By Andrew Kramer
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - One of Philadelphia's most popular black tie affairs turns 21 years old this Saturday night, and you can help celebrate at the Crystal Tea Room in Center City.
It's Hair O' the Dog and everyone is invited to join in on the fun, all while helping a good cause.
"The 'hair o' the dog' comes from an old English term, which means 'to chase your hangover'," explains Buffy Harakidas, the event's marketing director. "So because the event is so close to New Years, they consider it the 'hair o' the dog' -- chasing the New Year's Eve hangover to keep the party going."
Harakidas says this wild and exciting evening is filled with entertainment and extravagance:
"Considered probably the longest black tie affair in the country, this year we decided to go themeless, and we're just going to do one big 21st birthday celebration."
From Ibiza to Sin City to Miami, partygoers will enjoy different international nightlife experiences in the various themed rooms. And Harakidas says that's not all:
"We also have internationally-known Maxim model DJ Paula Shea, who will be spinning at this year's event. In addition, we have Mob Wife -- VH1's Natalie Guercio, who will perform a new hit single of hers called 'Throttle'."
Harakidas says the night gets started at 8 p.m. for the VIP press preview and the preview for the bottle service attendees, and the fun doesn't stop there:
"They'll be greeted by various entertainers as they arrive to top shelf open bar, they'll be gourmet butler and stationed hors d'oeuvres, our main ballroom will be filled with the band The Rockets, then we have various DJ's that will be spinning throughout the night. So basically this year we're going to take partygoers through a travel experience around the world as we transform the Crystal Tea Room into an international nightlife experience."
As the evening roars on there will also be various things going on that will allow you to donate to the charity the event is raising money for: Unico Philadelphia Chapter.
"It's an Italian-American nonprofit service organization that supports various local Philadelphia charities," explains Harakidas, "such as Gift of Life, the Crime Commission, Alex's Lemonade Stand, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Forgotten Cats."
All this, Harakidas says, while enjoying a truly unique event:
"A lot of other events in the city that are black tie are very stuffy and serious and ours is definitely edgy, cutting-edge, wild, exciting and lots of fun."
General admission to Hair O' the Dog begins at 9 p.m. and the official afterparty takes place at Lit Ultrabar until dawn.
For more information or to purchase tickets, go to www.hairothedog.com.
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