The annual Fall Festival transformed Flagstaff Courtyard into a bustling social scene this past Saturday evening. Featuring a giant trampoline, a mechanical bull, an obstacle course, caricature drawings, and a corn maze, Andover students were able to enjoy the last warm days of summer before fall settled in. Both new and returning students alike gathered as one community, meeting new friends, munching on fragrant popcorn, and waiting in line for wispy cotton candy. After the first week of classes, students enjoyed the opportunity to unwind with their friends with fun and music. Tori Dahl ’26 commented on how the fair allowed her to destress and revel in the lively campus culture.
“[The Fall Festival] makes [the weekend] more lighthearted and helps distract from schoolwork and lets kids have fun. I liked it because there was a lot of energy, there were a lot of people, the music was loud, there were lights, and then there were just people in the middle playing volleyball together,” said Dahl.
The festival offered a wide array of activities and exceeded many attendees’ initial expectations based on its advertisement in The Weekender.
“I went to the festival because I saw it on The Weekender and then a lot of my friends were there so I was like ‘Oh I might as well swing by,’ and I ended up staying because it was super fun,” said Dahl.
The event also opened up space for community building and exhibiting school spirit. The dynamic activities around the courtyard encouraged students to engage in simple fun, with energetic music and inflatables uplifting people’s moods. Maddy Lehman ’27 appreciated how the festival helped detach students from their phones and instead cultivate interpersonal relationships through real-world interactions.
“The event was very well done. I liked the music, it was really good. I also thought it was nice to get everyone together in one place with fun activities that were offered. I liked that it was a very community-engaging activity. I feel like [Andover] did a good job of bringing fun and interesting things into the weekend. I think it contributes well [to our school culture] because it’s forcing us to get off our phones and interact with each other and giving us a platform to do that,” said Lehman.
In addition to allowing pre-existing friend groups to spend time together, the festival also provided a chance for students to form new connections. With all students brought together to the heart of campus in the Flagstaff Courtyard, the festival’s central location made the event a hub for community building outside of a classroom environment. Tara Menon ’26 relished the opportunity to both see old friends and make new ones.
“The most memorable part was probably… just seeing a bunch of my friends and [getting to] meet a lot of new people in my grade. I think the event is bringing everyone together to one spot and it makes it easier to meet new people because it’s really centered” said Menon.
This interweaving of groups, new and established, on-campus benefited Andover’s overall campus aura by starting off the year with a genuine event for face-to-face interaction and conversation. Similar to Menon, Lehman remarked that although old friendships motivated her to attend the festival, she also ended up fostering new connections.
“I chose to go because my friends were going. I met a couple new people and I just got to know people that I already met better” said Lehman.
Each attendee had their own favorite activity at the festival, ranging from walking the corn maze or riding the mechanical bull, to jumping on the giant trampoline. In addition to these larger attractions, there were also artists creating custom name artwork and caricatures. For Dahl, the caricatures were the most memorable part of her night; the ink and paper drawing of her with her friends provided a physical memento for her to remember the night.
“My most memorable part was probably getting a picture of me and my friends drawn since I still have it so it’s definitely a memory that I can look back on” said Dahl.
