Fall Fest Keeps the Horrors at Bay

.Photo by Milo Gardner-Stephens ‘25.

Reed’s Fall Fest took place on Friday, October 4, in the Student Union. It was originally planned to take place in the Quad, but was moved indoors on account of the rain. Stepping out of the gray and rainy morning into the SU, I immediately knew that I had made a good decision in choosing to cover Fall Fest. I felt like I had walked into a pumpkin spice latte commercial produced by Studio Ghibli. On one end of the SU, there was henna and face painting. Students sat at tables doing mindful coloring and painting (plastic) stained glass leaves. I didn't do any of these activities myself, since I was busy walking around interviewing/antagonizing people I know. Thus began my boondoggle.

Lillie Spencer '25 described the Fall Fest as beautiful, saying, "The SU is the perfect place to have it, it's very Hogwarts-feeling." She also said that it was "exactly what I needed at the end of my classes and my work on Friday." Similarly, Charlotte Applebaum ‘27 said that the SU felt like "a cozy cabin." She added, "Even though I thought the rain might ruin it … it almost made it better," since the SU was a more appropriate location than the Quad. I can see what they mean—given the wooden interior, the large (albeit defunct) fireplace, and whatever they had done with the lighting making the whole place look almost candlelit, I can't think of a better location. When I asked Zoe Cute '25 if she was feeling the fall festivities, she said "Yes," adding, "fall has fallen."

There were snacks provided, which included cookies, caramel apples, hot apple cider, and hot cocoa. One student described the caramel apples as "admittedly not the best caramel apples I've ever had. Maybe difficult to eat," going on to clarify, "but it's the idea that's there." The hot cocoa was a hit, evidenced by a fair amount of cocoa and whipped cream spilled on the tablecloth by the end of the festival. I personally contributed to this, having around five cups of cocoa over the course of my "reporting." I did not have any of the cider, but it looked good. According to the label it was mulled, which I'm sure was impressive to anyone who took the time to google what mulled means. People also seemed to enjoy the henna and face painting, despite both of them being more traditional summer activities.

The real stars of the show, however, were the baby goats. Students lined up outside of the goats' pen to interact with them for the whole two-hour festival. I didn't feel like waiting in line, but I snuck a few pets over the fence. The goats were of the Nigerian Dwarf breed, and they were named Esther, Tilly, Franny, and Betty White. They are currently being bottle-fed, since their moms had too many kids to nurse on their own. When they grow up they will live on an eighteen-acre farm and petting zoo where their job will basically be to hang out and be goats. Observant people may have noticed that some of the goats had two purple nubs on their heads. This was because their horns had started to come in and had been filed down and sprayed with disinfectant. Apparently, if this is not done, there's a chance the horns will snap and cause problems after growing out and becoming vascularized. The goats seemed to enjoy climbing on top of people. While watching them, I saw two different students get pooped on.

The festival ended with a bluegrass performance by the American Roots Ensemble, made up of Lemon Mastel ‘25, Galen Adolph ‘25, Ella Arnold ‘25, Sterling Kennedy ‘26, and Zoe Cute ‘25, and was headed by Kenji Bunch. The music fit well with the aesthetics of the festival, and the large, enclosed area provided good acoustics since none of the musicians had microphones. My favorite song that they performed was "Sixteen Tons." The song's theme of resignation to dreary never-ending work reflected the mentality of many students by week five.