Crafts, students and local band Wave 11 marked the annual Fall Festival for Colorado Mesa University (CMU), put on by the Cultural Inclusion Council (CIC) on Nov. 7.
A two-hour performance by Wave 11 persuaded passersby to check out what the Fall Festival had to offer. After signing a participation waver, CMU students were encouraged to walk around Delta Field and investigate the different creative and culinary outlets. The first table that participants saw was an Oreo-to-turkey transformation craft. CMU students could create a candy turkey with different forms and textures of sugar.
CMU’s Associated Student Government (ASG) set up a Nerf Blaster shooting competition, as well as a limbo-inspired donut eating event.
Sustainability Council had a table dedicated to reusable tote decorating. This craft was popular among a group of friends who had just gotten done with a Zumba class and were on their way to grocery shop when the festival caught their attention. There was also mini pumpkin decorating and a table that provided supplies to make candle jars.
The table for the Genders and Sexualities Alliance had a steaming pot of a citrus flavored hot cocoa, a caramel apple bar and three different pies that participants could indulge in.
The assistant coordinator of the International Student Alliance, Zayne Safe, helped set up the festival. Safe hoped the event would bring more exposure to CMU. “I like the music, the food, but I got to say [the best part about the event] is the hot chocolate,” Safe said.
One of the fire pits provided by the Outdoor Program was equipped with two-prong forks and marshmallows for s’mores connoisseurs. The other fire pits brought warmth to those who were eating, creating and hanging out with friends or enjoying the live performance. The ash coming off these fire pits resembled snowfall out of a scene from a Hallmark movie.
Mahlet Mamo, the Assistant Coordinator of the Black Student Alliance, was most excited about getting Wave 11 to perform at the festival. CIC had to book Wave 11 a month in advance, after the different associations voted for the band to perform. The band’s members, Charles Walker, Zach Couron and Derek Suiter performed a setlist filled with their songs as well as some country and hip-hop covers.
“Honestly, I would be pretty upset if I missed out on so much free food,” Safe said.
