This weekend's WinterFest looked nothing like the winter wonderland that the Programming Board promised us at the end of last semester. Back when the event was first announced, students were promised attractions such as a tubing course, a snow sculpture competition, a smores station and a heated tent featuring a DJ.
None of these things was present during Saturday's poorly attended event. The only "fun" gracing the campus came in the form of multiple blow−up attractions and a few very expensive food trucks. The Res Quad ended up looking a lot more like an abandoned carnival than a winter paradise.
The majority of the weekend's events consisted of performances by various campus groups. They were spread out across campus, didn't relate to the weekend's originally intended winter theme, and most likely would have happened whether WinterFest was going on or not.
Although WinterFest was a complete bust this year, it is not unsalvageable. With some programming restructuring and a few simple changes, the event has the potential to succeed in the future.
The first thing that needs to change is the timing of the carnival. Students on Saturday were greeted with a muddy, snowless Res Quad and gray, overcast skies typical of a Boston winter. Instead, the event should happen at night, so that holiday lighting and decorations can give the Res Quad a festive atmosphere. A nighttime event will draw a larger crowd and be more enjoyable in general.
We suspect that the event didn't happen at night this year because of concerns that people would streak it in memory of the Naked Quad Run (NQR). Given the semester−long suspension that awaits anyone who defies the NQR ban, that almost certainly won't happen, but if the Programming Board is still concerned, it should move the carnival to a fenced−in Academic Quad or President's Lawn, where spontaneous streaking is less likely.
Also, Tufts needs to get a snow machine. If we're going to continue calling the event "WinterFest," then there need to be actual winter activities — like sledding, tubing and snow−sculpture building — which all mean that there has to be snow on the ground to make the event a success.
Last week, Tufts Community Union Senate Vice President Wyatt Cadley and historian Joseph Donenfield reported in an op−ed that the body had a roughly $450,000 budget surplus. Some of that money could fund a winter festival that is fun and well−attended. This year's WinterFest was kind of like a crash−test dummy. It failed, but we can learn from it and plan an event for next year that will be a fitting end to the fall semester.
