Last weekend, Fall Fest hosted a variety of events, such as a Midnight Breakfast in Levering Hall, a Humans vs. Zombies showdown, laser tag and a costume photo booth. According to Coordinator of Campus Programs Janet Kirsch, it was more successful than the weekend has been in past years.
“I think it went really well,” Kirsch said. “The attendance was higher than it was in previous years. Students really liked the events.”
She estimated that roughly 3000 to 4000 students attended this year.
Kirsch continued to say that many students appreciate the timing of Fall Fest.
“It offers a break from the craziness of midterms,” she said.
Freshman Freddie Montenegro agreed that Fall Fest was a good respite from the impending frenzy of midterms.
“I expected a break from studying,” Montenegro said. “It was amusing, I had fun. I laughed.”
There were a variety of events for students to partake in throughout the weekend, ranging from a Haunted House to a pumpkin picking patch.
“The Haunted House was pretty fun. It was funny-scary,” freshman Emily Rodgers said.
Freshman Arielle Kaden said that she also enjoyed the fair held at the Glass Pavilion.
“I thought Fall Fest was fun,” Kaden said. “I just felt like the lines were very long. It didn’t have anything that didn’t require waiting for like 45 minutes.”
Although she enjoyed the events that she attended, Kaden noted that she was looking forward to Spring Fair later this year. Many students, like Kaden, view Fall Fest as an autumnal version of Spring Fair, though the events are very different.
“It’s supposedly really fun,” Kaden said. “I’m excited.”
Spring Fair typically attracts a larger audience and offers a wider range of opportunities.
“Think state fair, but cleaner and with better food, and all your friends right there with you,” Spring Fair Co-Chairs Morgan Byce and Akif Saifi wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
One of the main differences between Spring Fair
and Fall Fest is the number of attendees. Kirsch noted that the events of Fall Fest are mainly for Hopkins students. Spring Fair, on the other hand, generally involves the larger community.
“We’d say that pretty much all the students on the Homewood campus attend Spring Fair in some way or the other, whether it’s getting some pad thai from a food vendor, going to the concert, hanging with friends in the Beer Garden, or even just chilling on the beach while a band plays, there’s something for everyone,” Byce and Saifi wrote, “A lot of people from the greater Baltimore area also come to Spring Fair. Over the course of the weekend, we bring around 20,000 visitors to the campus.”
What draws so many people to campus during Spring Fair?
“We have a ton of things going on like a full line-up of student and local bands on the various stages around campus, the big concert, the dance party, and various games and activities throughout the weekend, in addition to our vendors... I would say the most popular aspects of Spring Fair are without a doubt the food vendors, the Beer Garden, and the concert,” Byce and Saifi wrote.
Although those who attended Fall Fest events enjoyed them for the most part, Byce and Saifi noted that in general the events are not as well publicized.
“There are a ton of fun events for Fall Fest, but you really have to know about them, where they are, when they are etc.,” they wrote. “Spring Fair is much more in your face because literally anywhere you look on campus, there’s something going on there. So we think that just makes it easier for people to get involved because everything is right in front of them.”
Senior Sophie Grossman has enjoyed Fall Fest in the past, but thinks that it is hard to compare with Spring Fair.
“I think they [The Fall Fest events] are fun,” she said. “But Spring Fair is obviously better. It’s more of an event in its entirety.”
One thing that draws students to Spring Fair is the popular Beer Garden in the President’s Garden, which is of course reserved for those students who are over the age of twenty-one, a policy, which Grossman noted is strictly upheld, though some contested this notion.
“I have not yet been to Beer Garden and I still like Spring Fair. It definitely has appeal but it isn’t the main draw for students,” Grossman said.
Spring Fair has consistently been a major success with Hopkins students.
“Every year, the school conducts senior exit surveys and they ask what are the events that people will always remember. Spring Fair always tops that list,” wrote Byce and Saifi.
Although the Hopkins 2012 Fall Fest is over, students can look forward to the upcoming Spring Fair later this year.
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