Students enjoy food, fun at FestiFall

Miniature pumpkins, ghost cookies and a Halloween-themed photo booth awaited guests of the first-ever FestiFall on Wednesday in Dunn Meadow Cafe.

Indiana Memorial Union Activities and Events staff member Megan Bottoms said the event was a smaller version of the annual “Taste of the Union” event, which is traditionally during Welcome Week.

“The idea is to keep generating excitement in the Union,” she said.

Bottoms also said the event gave students a chance to de-stress and be creative.

A variety of craft supplies, including feathers, pom-poms and pipe cleaners, were
available for pumpkin decoration.

Plain sugar cookies provided a blank canvas for candy corn and other
confections.

Union vendors passed out free samples of fall foods, such as pumpkin desserts, trail
mix and popcorn, as a way to promote the Union’s various eateries.

Bottoms said IMU staff members are making plans for small events similar to FestiFall for throughout the year.

IMU staff member Cassidy Sansone said an event combining “a smaller Taste of the Union” with a scaled-down version of the Involvement Fair is in the works for mid-January.

Many FestiFall attendees, including senior Brittney Johnson, said finding the event was a bit of a happy accident.
Student mentors and more than 50 children involved with College Mentors for Kids were participating in a scavenger hunt in the IMU when they discovered FestiFall.

Johnson, whose mentee was in the process of decorating a cookie from IMU bakery Sugar and Spice, said the group just stumbled upon the event.

“It was very spontaneous,” Johnson said. “But they’re having the best day of their lives.”

— Kirsten Clark