Winterfest
By Anvi Bhate, Anna Kim, and Andrea Nystedt
Winterfest, a fun festival designed to celebrate the last few days of winter term, was held on March 7th. As an event planned in conjunction with Exeter Student Service Organization (ESSO) and the Student Activities team, Winterfest 2021 hosted vendors Dulce’s Bakery and Hoynacki Kettle Korn, providing students with an outlet for students to get outdoors. There were also activities such as a potato sack race, snow sculpture competition, and decorating “hope flags.”
ESSO Co-President and senior Caroline Luff said that Winterfest was successful. “I think Winterfest went pretty well. We've had quite a few people come by making some snow globes and then some fun potato sack races, and snow cones are going well too, those have been very popular,” she said. And while it was difficult to plan this outdoor festival, Luff thought that everything worked out in the end.
ESSO Off-Campus Coordinator and upper Emma Finn found the potato sack race and snow cones particularly memorable. “One thing that was entertaining is that in every sack race, at least one person fell over,” she said. “It was also a bit cold for snow cones but surprisingly, people came and enjoyed it.”
Luff also shared some of the ideas behind creating Winterfest. “It's just time to relax. I just hope everyone has a chance to stop by and get a hot chocolate, and relax because it can be really hard at the end of winter term to find motivation,” she said.
Dance instructor Allison Duke was a chaperone during the event. “My job was to manage the skate rental system and help students find their way to Rink A.” she said. “There were a lot of activities for them to engage in a tactile way – making snow globes, sculpting the snow and skating.”
One of the most popular features of Winterfest was the kettle corn station, according to Mr. Hoynacki from Hoynacki Kettle Korn. “It seems like everyone enjoys it. I got a lot of people that come back and they're like, ‘Oh, yay, kettle corn!’ They're happy to try it again or have some more, so that's always good to hear,” he said.
Many of the people at the event commented on the nostalgia of the event. “It's very chill,” lower Grace Nivera said. “I guess it’s like coming back to childhood, like just doing arts and crafts with no pressure—it's kind of nice.”
However, one of the main attractions was the 40-yard potato sack races, highlighted with the introduction of Ms. Reyes’s very loud blow horn. “It attracted the attention of everyone at Winterfest and turned all eyes to the potato sack race” senior Connor Chen commented. “It was a time full of laughter and cheers, and we awarded all participants with a proud seat upon our makeshift throne of champions (which was really a stack of plastic red chairs). Overall, the event was amazing and I think that everyone had a much-needed break from final exams and papers.”
Math teacher Brandon Hew was at Winterfest and supervised the ice rinks. “It’s always fun watching people of different skill levels skate. Even for those people skating for the very first time, it is great to see their confidence grow even in just a short half-hour,” Hew added.
Prep Edie Fisher appreciated the new food combinations people had never encountered before. “Snow cones and maple syrup is a strange combination when you look at it.” Fisher said. “Everyone seemed pretty excited about the abundance of sweets and the event was very enjoyable.”
More broadly, however, both students and faculty appreciated getting outdoors and enjoying the good weather. “I hope students found Winterfest to be a pleasant break from studying.” Duke said. “It is good to engage that way after being stuck on Zoom for a year!”
