The Most Expensive Party Ever Thrown

Just the Gist

A private jet for every guest, who then walked down a red carpet and got into a custom built limousine, which took them to an opulent bungalow, where they would find an intricate tapestry portrait of themselves on the wall. And that was just the first half hour.
In 1971, the Shah of Iran decided to celebrate 2500 years of the Persian Empire by throwing the most expensive 3-day party the world had ever seen. Over a year in the making, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi had an entire city built from scratch in the middle of the desert, complete with its own forest and 50,000 flown-in birds for the important international guests to enjoy.

So why did the party end in disaster? Who was on the guest list (including exactly who you’d think from the British royal family)? And how much did the whole thing end up costing?

We give you Just The Gist, but if you want more, there's this:

Watch the 2016 documentary Decadence and Downfall https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2JXYHZKZE8

Watch the film the Shah commissioned, Flames of Persia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n5Ilb5DT28

Explore the website someone set up to commemorate the event https://www.angelfire.com/empire/imperialiran/persepolis1.html

Read some articles that feature interviews with some of the staff who worked the event

https://www.alimentarium.org/en/magazine/history/most-expensive-party-ever

https://medium.com/blank-101/the-party-that-overthrew-the-iranian-empire-6fc89f46bfc1

If you want to understand more about the political situation in Iran, watch this doco 'Persia's Last Emperor: How Did The Iranian Monarchy Fall?' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5Xb0Lcehxo&t=6s

Resources and helpful info on Iran (thanks to friend of the pod Sanam for putting these together):

Australian run page - great for info and also all local protests https://instagram.com/solidarity.with.iran?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

This page has a really small amount of followers but puts out great bite sized information about the progress in Iran and globally, along with footage from inside Iran https://instagram.com/amplify_iran?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

A week by week update from Iran and global affairs related to it https://instagram.com/diasporaforiran?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Queer led page which has a good mix of resources, footage and current events https://instagram.com/iraniandiasporacollective?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Great page on how to help but also a rundown of what happened from the moment Mahsa Amini was killed up to now https://stylecaster.com/how-to-help-iran-protests/#slide-3

Article about the marking of the anniversary of the Islamic revolution in Feb 2023 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna70223

Film that explains the political climate in the 70s https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persepolis_(film)

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