Chi Huang, Staff Photographer
Winterfest Weekend began over 20 years ago with a handful of events and has grown immensely due its popularity with students. This year, the weekend included the Study Abroad Global Fair, Taste of Rochester, late night music, movies hosted by UR Cinema Group, a Super Bowl viewing party, and the Saturday Winter Wonderland Celebration in Wilson Commons.
Campus Activities Board (CAB) primary advisor Alvin Lomibao said “Winterfest brings the entire College community together to celebrate student life at Rochester…this weekend in particular celebrates winter and the start of the semester.” Just like all the other community weekends, Winterfest is an opportunity for the student population to come out and interact in a fun setting.
This weekend is especially entertaining for freshmen, since this is their first time experiencing Winterfest. Although many freshmen knew very little about it, they learned to love it as much as the rest of the student body.
The Winter Wonderland giveaways at Wilson Commons are arguably the most widely attended event–a signature part of the Winterfest Weekend since 2007, according to Lomibao. This year, Winter Wonderland included a Build-A-Bear station, picture flipbooks, hot chocolate, ice sculptures, picture whiteboards and a Rochester hat giveaway.
Freshman Ellie Johns was very excited for Winterfest, but it was hard for her to know what to expect. Though she had heard of the event and knew it was taking place, she did not know all that it entailed.
When asked what her favorite part of the weekend was, Johns responded that she “absolutely loved the huskies that [were] brought to campus.”
Freshman Lydia Goff was overwhelmed by the number of events that were happening. “I was expecting to run over quickly for some cocoa and a quick look at the ice sculptures, but there was a lot more to do than I expected,” she noted, further explaining, “It is sometimes really hard to participate in what is going on…I’d never complain about the free cocoa, cookies and hat, but I’ll have to get there earlier next year to make sure I get to try everything out.”
Students flock out for the free seasonal items and the excuse to relax and spend time with their friends. Sophomore Zoya Ramzan says that her favorite part of Winterfest this year was “spending quality time with friends, drinking hot chocolate and waiting in the flipbook picture line.”
Winterfest kicks off Spirit Week, taking place this week on campus.
In addition to the giveaways, CAB brought in Bill Hader in for a Q&A session. Bill Hader is a comedian who worked on “Saturday Night Live” for eight years. The show was a great opportunity to meet Hader and ask him questions.
Winterfest was led by Rachel Levene, CAB’s Winterfest Weekend Chair. Levene said that putting the event together “was a lot of work, but seeing everything [fall into place] and seeing the student body [enjoy] it made it all worth it…I couldn’t be happier with the way it went.”
Kluzniak is a member of
the class of 2017.
