Children and adults enjoy activities provided at the Old Main festival. Anayah Peterson helps the children with the duck pond game provided by the Pine Needle. Submitted Photo/D. Natale
By Alana Peterson, Graphic Artist
Pembroke hosted the annual Old Main Festival on April Fools this year with plenty of family friendly events. Hosted by the Office of Campus Engagement and Leadership and UNCP admissions, the event is hosted every year in order to allow students and staff to experience campus related activities with family.
The festival was established to give students who normally can not participate in weekly activities the opportunity to.
This year, there were 15 organizations and 16 departments that tabled at the event. Some of those organizations included were art club, Greek life, Pembroke activities council, and more.
Some of the activities included were a photo booth, caricature designs, friendship bracelet beading, face paint, indoor bouncy house, and many games that unlocked prizes.
There were over 800 participants this year. There were 278 students, 260 guardians and guest, and over 130 local residents.
“I think this year was a huge hit for Festival at Old Main, we had the largest crow in attendance in the past thirty years and we look forward to bringing more exciting and interactive activities to campus in the future” Bailey Miller, assistant director for Campus Engagement said.
DJ Gizmo was in charge of the music. Free food was offered which included unlimited funnel cake. Guest were encouraged to stop at very table and learn about the many organizations Pembroke had to offer.
The first 200 people who attended the event was given a free T-shirt and yellow ribbon. Some of the organizations gave away free items and informed people about their organization as they came up to their tables.
Miller said they are always looking for ways to elevate this event to have student organizations showcase various activities. It allows them to promote their organizations to the community and incoming freshman. She said that many participated in the event.
“Obviously anytime you have to make a weather call it will impact your event. Despite the smaller space and moving indoors, we still had an excellent turn out for the event and we are hopeful that it will only be bigger and better next year,” Miller said.
The festival usually consists of a Ferris wheel and is located outside of the QUAD. Dueue to inclement weather the Ferris wheel rides were hosted on Friday, March 31st and other activities were moved into the auxiliary gym in the Jones Center. There was strong winds and heavy rain during the event.
