Last week, the Campus Activities & Programs (CAP) Center hosted a Carnival event at Uptown. The Oct. 16 event was a recent innovation of the CAP Center, springing from a desire to provide students with communal social activities within the context of COVID-19 restrictions. The CAP Center hopes to continue this spirit of community activity into the spring semester with more outdoor, controlled events.

For the Carnival, the outdoor area between Uptown and McDonnell Hall was transformed into a fairground complete with games, prizes, food and music. “Friday’s carnival felt like being home again. Good people, good food and good times,” Lucille Ketterer ’23 said. 

One of the most popular attractions was the ‘high striker.’ Throughout the evening, students could be seen testing their strength by malleting a lever and hoping to hear the ring of the bell atop the contraption; tickets were given out to those who were able to hit the bell, which could then be redeemed for a cup. Students attempting the feat were met with encouragement from bystanders; some individuals even took the time to give pointers to other students on how to make the most out of their attempt.

Another popular game featured a large, inflatable Velcro target where students could shoot Velcro soccer balls in an attempt to hit the bullseye. Other attractions included a Whack-A-Mole game that allows students to compete with one another, a magician, a balloon artist and airbrush tattoo artists.

The carnival was also home to many snacks and food: a mix of hot foods like nacho tots and mozzarella sticks, as well as classical carnival snacks like kettle popcorn, “zebra” popcorn and caramel apples — all functioning to keep attendees warm and adding to the lively autumnal atmosphere. 

“Carnival was tremendous fun. Especially for those of us with an aptitude for downing popcorn and testing our athleticism, it was greatly stimulating,” Miles Book ’23 said. Book went on to express his “personal thanks and gratitude to the wonderful leadership of the CAP Center for putting together the event; in particular to Cole Zehe ’23, who was the head planner and is as organized as he is charismatic.” 

“I’m very pleased with how the carnival went. There was a great flow of people who stopped by to do the giant soccer ball dartboard and try their luck on the strength tester. People were also excited to see the magician, balloon artist, and get airbrush tattoos. Overall, a night of great fun,” event planner Zehe said. 

With the weather starting to cool down, the Carnival was the last major outdoor event of the semester — the CAP Center will be working henceforth on mostly indoor programming. This Friday, Oct. 23, for instance, the CAP Center will be hosting a Harry Potter event complete with trivia, succulents, and a chance to win $100. Look out for other events from the CAP Center in the near future.