Winter Carnival is a Syracuse tradition dating back to the 1930s. It was originally created to give students a break before exams. Now it’s a week full of events at the start of the spring semester to help students get some much-needed excitement in spite of the extremely low temperatures and mounds of snow. This year, Winter Carnival is taking place from Feb. 19 – 23 and features indoor and outdoor activities for the campus community. While the week of events is sure to be fun and exciting throughout the entire week, here are my top three events to look forward to and attend.
- The Chili Cook-Off
Because who doesn’t love chili? Who doesn’t love free, unlimited-while-supplies-last, chili? The Chili Cook-Off is happening on Feb. 21 at 11 a.m. on the HBC patio. It’s a competition to find the best tasting chili, featuring you trying all the different chilis. Sounds like a good time to me.
- Glow in the Dark Late Night Skate Night
When I was growing up the fun thing to do was to attend “all night” skating at the local skating rink that they put on once a month for all the kids under 18. (Back then late night meant until 9 p.m. We had curfew.) Thankfully, it’s 2019 and you don’t have to wait for “late” night skate night to happen because it’s a part of the 2019 Winter Carnival and will take place on Friday, Feb. 22, from 9:30 p.m. – midnight at Tennity Ice Pavilion on South Campus. This is an opportunity for you and all your friends to have some genuine fun skating in the dark with nothing but glow lights to light up the rink. And the best part…it’s free!
- Laser Tag
Laser Tag is always a hit. No matter how old you are or where you are from, there’s just something about running around and tagging your friends. A little friendly competition never hurt anybody. Winter Carnival will feature Laser Tag in Goldstein Auditorium on Saturday, Feb. 23 from 8 p.m. – midnight. An added bonus…it will feature free food (while supplies last, of course).
Visit the Winter Carnival website for the complete list of events.
Written by: Amber Hudson G’19, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications