The Rise of Extravagant Children’s Birthday Parties in Los Angeles and Beyond.

A party takes place in “the new sports hall of the Los Angeles Rams [l’équipe de football américain de la ville]with VIP catering service included for parents”, describe The Sueddeutsche Zeitung. This colossal organization is not deployed for the concert of an American superstar, but on the occasion of the birthday of a little girl. The cost of the celebration amounts to several tens of thousands of dollars, a probably derisory expense for the approximately 200,000 millionaires who reside in Los Angeles.

“Is this the prerogative of the United States, accustomed to excessiveness?” asks the German daily. Not really, according to the title, which recalls that “every American trend sooner or later spreads to Europe”. It would therefore only be a matter of time before the phenomenon takes hold of the continent.

$14,500 formula

Leesa Zelken runs an event agency in Los Angeles, and her services are billed between $350 (for a consultation) and $14,500 for a package. “I just got an order […] with furniture rental, artist, glitter tattoo station, craft station, pancake specialist, party manager and lifeguard”she lists, quoted by The New York Times. A party of “midsized”, according to the American.

Children’s birthdays have become more than a pleasant moment with friends or family; now, each event is shared on social networks. “People post photos and videos of the party on Instagram, obviously to show others how successful they have been in life”underline The Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Doing as well as your neighbour, that’s the new mantra.

Increasingly, birthday parties are seen as rewards. The newspaper explains:

“The party no longer just symbolizes a new year of life, it’s also a form of reward, with the promise of an even more lavish birthday the following year. Provided, of course, that the child fulfills his part of the contract.”

Both children and adults now seem united on a birthday. Until then, “only the parents of the child who was celebrating his birthday were present”, underlines the title. Twice as many people for what looks like “a two-in-one party”. Faced with this new kind of contest of opulence, it is nevertheless advisable to keep in mind “the why of an anniversary”suggests The Sueddeutsche Zeitung.