From October 23 to 25, the Hopkins Student Organization for Programming (the HOP) organized the annual Hoptoberfest, a series of events designed to celebrate the arrival of fall. The festivities commenced with a Kickoff Fest at Keyser and Wyman Quads, featuring a carnival atmosphere and complimentary food.
Students lined up under the iconic Gilman Hall to receive free commemorative T-shirts and meal tickets. The food options, which included vegetarian and non-vegetarian choices from Ekiben and Nora”s Kabobs, were quickly consumed by eager attendees. A snack ticket allowed students to select from pretzels, cupcakes, or ice cream, the latter of which required a short walk beyond Shriver Hall.
The carnival, marked by an orange-and-black balloon arch, offered various games where participants could earn tickets redeemable for prizes. Activities included launching toy lizards with a hammer, shooting basketballs, tossing rings, and even attempting to stay on a mechanical bull, an endeavor few succeeded at. Many students opted for simpler prizes, like building block sets, instead of the more challenging Squishable toys.
In an email to The News-Letter, the HOP explained their planning process for Hoptoberfest, stating, “Our activities list is decided by a group brainstorming session between the chairs and our committee. We usually have a lot of returning activities from years prior, but we also want to keep it fresh.”
The second day featured a haunted house located in the Ralph S. O”Connor Recreation Center, entirely operated by students. A long queue formed, with students eager to experience the frightful attraction, filled with horror movie-inspired decorations like doll parts and animatronics. Volunteers dressed as various monsters lurked behind curtains to provide jump scares, while students who completed the experience received free T-shirts and candy.
Freshman Amelia Joseph shared her experience, stating, “I”ve never been to a haunted house before, and a couple of friends wanted to go there, so I thought I”d tag along. It was nice that they were able to fit a huge variety of stuff into that limited amount of space available.”
The final day of Hoptoberfest began with a Farm Day theme. Upon arrival, students received a green wristband and a snack ticket for one of three seasonal treats: candy apples, donuts, or apple pie, paired with apple cider. Numerous activities were available, including a stall for making friendship bracelets and dried flower bouquets, a petting zoo featuring animals such as bunnies, tortoises, and even a camel, as well as a henna station. Students also had the opportunity to choose and take home pumpkins from the pumpkin patch.
Allison Farfan Martinez, a freshman attendee, expressed her enthusiasm in an email, saying, “My favorite part was seeing all the animals or the henna! The bunnies were the cutest!” She suggested that next year”s event could benefit from music, stating, “I would love for there to be music next time! I think it would make things more fun.”
In the evening, the excitement continued as students queued outside the Rec Center for the sold-out Hoptoberfest concert featuring artist Khalid. As they awaited the performance, attendees danced to the DJ”s music. Khalid took the stage around 9 PM, delivering a set filled with his most popular songs, accompanied by a live band and backup dancers.
Liam Parker, Co-Chair of the Traditions Committee for the HOP, discussed the process of booking Khalid, noting, “Booking the artist was a process that took many months of labor and many different ideas of who we wanted. The positive response from students about our choice made our committee very happy.”
The HOP also highlighted some challenges in organizing the event, such as communication hurdles among staff and the pressure of timely setup for large crowds. They advised early planning and maintaining open lines of communication with vendors to ease the process.
Although Hoptoberfest has concluded, the HOP will continue its Halloween celebrations with a costume competition at Levering Hall on October 31.
