Hoptoberfest 2024, one of the signature events of the Hopkins Student Organization for Programming (the HOP), started on Wednesday, Oct. 23 on the Keyser Quad and featured various activities ranging from inflatables to lawn games. The event held Farm Day on Oct. 24, a haunted house event on Oct. 25 and a concert with Kiana Ledé and student openers on Oct. 26.
An annual tradition that marks the beginning of fall, the festival typically consists of yard games, food vendors and Hoptoberfest T-shirt distributions. The concert, which took place on the fourth and final day of the event, concluded the festival.
The HOP’s Co-Traditions Events Chair Cassie Eckert, one of Hoptoberfest 2024’s organizers, shed light on the role of the HOP in an interview with The News-Letter.
“The HOP receives funding for undergraduates to put on events to help people de-stress, have fun and enjoy being at college,” she said. “This is our first time having a haunted house on campus. It’s going to be staffed by students, and we have a vendor coming in that sets up the maze of the house.”
Hoptoberfest 2024 Kickoff hosted activities like a DIY Smoothie Bike by Wheely Good Smoothies, created by Bike Powered Events. In an interview with The News-Letter, freshman Grace Wang, one of the people who enjoyed this smoothie experience, described the festival from her perspective.
“I think [the event] looked so fun,” Wang said. “Going to the bouncy house and getting free T-shirts, especially camping in line to wait for the free T-shirt... I don’t really go out a lot, so I think this experience was great for me to get out, be social and make memories with my friends.”
This year’s Hoptoberfest involved local food vendors like bun meals from Ekiben and ice cream from Cream Cruiser. Evidently, food vendors and Hoptoberfest T-shirts attracted great interest from the student population as lengthy lines circulated Keyser Quad and extended all the way to Wyman Quad.
It was sophomore Hannah Nelson’s first time at Hoptoberfest, and she voiced her frustration with the long lines in an interview with The News-Letter.
“I don’t think it’s personally worth it to wait in line,” she shared. “By the end of it, there’s not going to be any food or ice cream or other benefits left. It’s great for those who have been waiting in line since much before the event started, but a lot of people don’t have time for that. I wish there was something that could be done so that everyone can enjoy a piece of the school or our events.”
The HOP worked on controlling the crowds and organizing the lines throughout the event. Eckert recognized the situation and elaborated on what has played a role in this situation in her interview.
“Unfortunately, CampusGroups was down for about half an hour when we were supposed to be checking people in,” Eckert responded. “As a University standard, we are required to check people in through Hopkins Groups for liability reasons. Typically, lines are hard to avoid with this many people. We try to check in as many people as possible, yet the people that are working here are all students, so they're trying their best. I appreciate my committee members so much for all that they're doing.”
Despite the long wait times, students expressed their satisfaction with the festival. Junior Alfredo Hernandez shared why Hoptoberfest is enjoyable in an interview with The News-Letter.
“I’ve been [to Hoptoberfest] every year,” said Hernandez. “Especially when it gets colder, a lot of people stay in their dorms. It’s a great way to get a lot of people out.”
This year’s Hoptoberfest featured events like a petting zoo, fall bouquet making and a pumpkin patch on Oct. 24. Hoptoberfest 2023 featured a Show Day where several student groups performed; this was replaced by Farm Day for the 2024 festival.
Eckert told The News-Letter what led to this change, explaining that last year, there were a lot of technical difficulties with the student showcase and the movie.
“We have students working on these and a lot of them are trying their best with the technical equipment, but they're not professionals by any means,“ she said. “Since there are a lot of other showcases on campus for student groups to do, [we] instead [did] a Farm Day and centered it around the iconic pumpkin patch that's been a tradition for many, many years.”
The Farm Day was followed by a fright night as part of the haunted house on Friday, Oct. 25. Eckert also explained why all Hoptoberfest events are on campus this year, in contrast to the past years.
“Last year, we bused students off-campus to the Nevermore Haunt, which is in the Inner Harbor,” she stated. “This year, the admin wanted us to stay completely on campus, so we had to flip and learn how to do a haunted house on campus to keep that tradition alive. It's new and exciting.”
The HOP President Shreya Joshi, who has been involved with the organization since her freshman fall, elaborated on the significance of Hoptoberfest for her and and gave advice to freshmen.
“Hoptoberfest is actually the first event that I did a shift for, so it's kind of special to me,” said Joshi. “Get involved with the HOP. There's a lot of different experiences that you can do if you like event planning. There's also a lot of perks of being in the HOP. It's a great community.”
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