Formal Hall booking

Formal Hall is a wonderful three-course plated dinner served in the candle-lit hall on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings at 7.30pm during term.

  1. Tickets for Formal Hall are available to book via Upay or via the dedicated Upay Chilli app.
  2. New students will need to set up a Upay account by visiting the Upay website or downloading the Upay app for smart phones or tablet.
  3. You will need the College affiliation ID which is DOWNING and the University card number.
  4. The Upay app is the best place to view all of the Formal Hall events available, all of our special meal deals and special offers, the current total of your loyalty points and their redemption value.
  5. Guidelines for booking Formal Hall
  6. Formal Hall is held on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings from 7.30pm to 9pm during Term only.
  7. You must book yourself and guests into Formal Hall in advance via UpayChilli.  Space may be limited.
  8. You may book four additional guests, with your own ticket making five in total.
  9. The Servery doors are opened from 7pm, please arrive by 7.15pm for 7.30pm seating. The Fellows dine in the hall at 7.35pm prompt. This allows time for the Supervisor to check you and your guests in.
  10. Wine can be purchased from the Servery, and/or £1 per bottle corkage paid, between 7pm and 7.20pm on Formal Hall nights only. This can be paid on your University College Card or by Debit Card payment (we are a cashless College).
  11. When booking guests into Formal Hall please indicate your guest's full name in the area provided. This is extremely helpful when sorting group requirements.
  12. When adding special dietary instructions to a booking, please indicate the name of the person in your party to which the request applies. This information must be received before the cut off time for bookings.
  13. When emailing catering with Formal Hall related questions, please send your message to catering@dow.cam.ac.uk. Please indicate in the subject line if the query relates to an MCR or JCR Formal Hall booking. NB: please do not email the Catering Manager or Deputy Catering Manager directly.
  14. Please adhere to the cut-off times for booking tickets: 11am two days before for Monday, Wednesday and Friday dinners. It is difficult and very time consuming to amend final details of a booking beyond these times.
  15. The cut-off times listed above apply to cancellation requests or changes to your booking.
  16. All requests emailed after 3pm on a Friday will most likely not receive a reply, so it is imperative that the time restraints for bookings are adhered to.
  17. If two or more groups wish to combine seating so they all sit together this is to be arranged in advance via email to catering@dow.cam.ac.uk. We will leave a reserved sign on a table with the name of the student making the booking. We require the full names of all members of the group prior to the dinner. There is a maximum of ten people to a reservation.
  18. Before you arrive for Formal Hall, please ensure that your group booking has been confirmed by email from the Catering team; it is advisable to bring a copy of the email.
  19. If no group booking email is received then you and your guests will be asked to take seats that are available anywhere in the hall - these may not necessary be together. Please note we do not reserve group seating for parties smaller than eight.
  20. If you wish to sit together we advise you to arrive at 7pm, although this is not guaranteed.
  21. Downing groups larger than ten should be discussed with Kerry-Ann Eglinton and organised as a private Formal Hall.
  22. Society and external university groups should book a private dinner via the Conference Office and not request a private formal.