The Dormfest team was created on the 23rd of February 2022. After an intensive application process, the group had their first meeting and began to set their sights on the largest event of the school year. The first major task was identifying a theme which was open and accessible but still special, unique and memorable. We settled on Interstellar Odyssey: A trip through space!
Once we had a collective vision, we needed to find professional artists, plan decorations that would transform the courtyard and provide food and drinks for the hundreds of guests. This seemed like a rather daunting task at first but step by step, the team overcame each hurdle or challenge and, after 20 board meetings (and plenty other unofficial but unforgettable work sessions), the day of the festival was right around the corner.
The 25th of June was an early start for the organising team because the stage crew arrived at 07:00 to set up. After that came the decorations team, the food trucks, the bar, the individual committee stands and suddenly the courtyard looked completely different. It was an almost surreal experience to see everything really happening after so much time spent planning and visualising it.
The activities started at 12:00 and the first act began at 13:00. As time went on, the crowd became larger and larger. Whether it was trying Cuisine’s baked goods and the food trucks’s bao buns, jumping around on the bouncy castle or vibing to the music with drinks in hand, there were smiling faces all around. The team were constantly scurrying around fixing decorations, power outputs, registering new guests and bringing artists off and on stage but it as still so rewarding to see everyone enjoy something we had put so much time into.
At 22:00, the last act of the night began. We had just said our many “thank yous” on stage to all the helpful people involved in the event and they closed brilliantly. The light show was spectacular as the sun had set. Miraculously, the weather defied all expectations and the rain only came after the festival ended and everyone had headed to the afterparty. All in all, it was a brilliant send off at the end of the year and we can’t wait for the next one!
