By Kyle Neibch and Allie Perez
Batavia High School will welcome “Winterfest,” an activity for students to express themselves in a safe place, this year for the first time. Winterfest is completely different from a homecoming dance.
It is not supposed to be a formal dance. They don’t want students to go through the struggle of finding dates along with nice clothes. In the past, winter dances have always been a topic of discussion, but when the dance becomes official, the interest with students begins to wane. According to Heidecke and Firnbach. The main purpose of this year’s function is to connect students and allow them to be themselves. According to the Winterfest website, there will be live music, an art gallery, and video games.
The main point of this festival is to make the students happy, said Firnbach. It’s a new and different experience for everyone but it does bring students and teachers together. The results on if Batavia does this again next year is to be determined, but there are high hopes for a good turnout.
“The festival is only open to BHS students, so with that being said we are hoping to get about 1,000 people,” said BHS math teacher Firnbach.
She later went on to explain how 1,200 attended homecoming and that’s with more than just BHS students. One thousand people is the goal for “Winterfest,” and they believe that it is realistic to get that many.
Students who attended Rotolo Palooza in middle school compare Winterfest to an event that takes place annually at the middle school. The festival has similar things to Rotolo Palooza but is not related in any way.
“Batavia actually hired people to plan this event,” said Lauren Heidecke, explaining how the students do not choose what kind of events go on at Winterfest, but it is a company that plans these events for schools.
The cost can be a limiting factor to some students, but according to Firnbach they believe that the fee is a reasonable price for everyone.
“There will be a DJ in the cafeteria and for the first two days, the tickets are $20. If you order them after the two days, it will be $25. At the door it is $30,” Heidecke said.
Attire for the dance is anything in black.
“Whatever the students feel comfortable in that happens to be black,” Heidecke explained.
Batavia has been trying to find different activities to do in the winter, said Firnbach. It was just a matter of finding the right fit for our school and what the students would like.
“We’ve wanted to do something different,” said Firnbach. “We’ve been researching and talking to other schools in the area that have done different types of events in the winter and this was one that schools kept coming back to.”
Firnbach went on to say that schools have had a great time with Winterfest and they keep on bringing them back because the students enjoyed it so much.
“We are just going to see how this year goes then move on from there,” Firnbach said when asked if this will become an annual tradition.
The school is hoping that this festival could be a very popular event so they can bring it back next year and years after that. With tickets being sold at up to $30 the teachers and administration believe that this could be a very good way to get funds for the school.
The week before Winterfest will be a spirit week, much like homecoming week. There will be different themes for each day to get ready for the festival. Winterfest is meant to be a friendly environment but who knows what could happen with hundreds of teenage kids.