On Saturday, Oct. 17, Colby students celebrated “Fallfest,” a fall-themed festival that occurs in October each year. The event took place between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. and engaged students in festive fall-related activities and food.
Fallfest is organized by the College’s Student Programming Board, also known as SPB. In addition to Fallfest, SPB is in charge of planning many large-scale social events on campus, such as the Fall and Spring Concerts [not taking place this year], food festivals, and occasional weekend trips. SPB leadership consists of 16 officers, each of whom has a role in the planning and execution of all events.
One of the main coordinators for Fallfest is the Fall Social Chair, Ainsley McCrum `28. She discussed the process of planning the event: “It definitely involves a lot of moving parts. We reach out to external vendors to organize things like the beer garden, food options, apple cider and donuts, and inflatables like the mechanical bull. On the Colby side, we reserve event spaces, coordinate decorations and activities like pumpkin carving and the photo booth, and organize student staffing for the events.”
Fallfest involved numerous festive activities, including a mechanical bull-riding machine, pumpkin carving stations, and a free photo booth. Students over the age of 21 had the opportunity to visit the Oktoberfest Beer Garden & Patio for free alcoholic beverages.
One of the College’s student rock and R&B bands, Free Candy, performed at Fallfest. Each year, this festival creates a space to build community and make new connections. “My favorite part of Fallfest, aside from seeing everyone having fun, is definitely the live music and the energy,” McCrum said. “Being able to feature talented student bands at our events has been amazing. I love that it gives students an opportunity to share their music while adding to the overall atmosphere of the event.”
Fallfest is typically hosted outside; however, this year, it took place inside Cotter Union due to strong winds. Inside, students received complimentary apple cider and hot apple crisp.
SPB Spring Social Chair Kat McManus `27 discussed the process of planning Fallfest: “Planning began in August, when we prepared our list of what we wanted the event to look like, and [we] began reaching out to vendors in September,” McManus said. “A few weeks before the event, SPB signed up for shifts to help our event leads with the program. I’d like to shout out our Fall Social Chair Ainsley for making a lot of this happen, alongside Nathan Hayes, Maggie Russell, Rich Kang, and Afia Kavi, who were our primary student leaders on the event.”
While Fall Fest may be one of the most anticipated events in October, it is just one of the many attractions that the College hosts to celebrate fall. On Oct. 15, Colby Dining Services surprised students by organizing a pumpkin patch outside on Miller Lawn, inviting students to take a pumpkin and enjoy hot apple cider with donuts. Similarly, SPB organized several weekend trips to ‘The Apple Farm,’ where students picked apples at a local farm.
~ Elsie Scott `30
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