Winterfest, one of Concord Academy’s signature events, took place this year on Saturday, January 24. The evening consisted of a club fair portion, an exciting talent show, many raffles, and senior pieing.
The event started with the club fair portion in Stu-Fac, where clubs and affinity spaces sold a variety of refreshments and sweet treats or hosted a game related to their club. As always, all of the money raised is donated to charity. This year, all proceeds went to the Boston Children's Hospital. Sophia Fan ’28, co-head of the Never-Fading Poppy Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to writing cards for veterans, said, “It’s so nice that the money made in Winterfest is given to charity.”
After the club portion, students headed into the P.A.C for the talent show. The show featured many acts where students sang, danced, played instruments, and even showed off their skills in video games. Numerous raffles for items ranging from gift cards to Owalas and Stanley water bottles were built into the event between performances. One of the most popular acts in the talent show was the dance by Sensational, CA’s K-pop dance group. They put on a spectacular performance and integrated many songs into their performance, including “Gnarly” by Katseye and “Exes” by Tate McRae. Sensational dancer Emily He ’28 said, “I thought that Sensational was really fun, but I was super nervous getting on stage. I would totally do it again.” This act brought an incredible amount of energy to the stage, and multiple students shared that watching Sensational’s performance was the highlight of their Winterfest.
The last event of the night was the senior pieing, where students were given the opportunity to bid in order to pie a senior. Ultimately, the highest bidder was able to throw a plate of whipped cream into the senior’s face.
Similar to previous years, Winterfest was held on a community weekend, meaning students were required to attend at least one activity during the weekend. Having Winterfest occur during a community weekend is intended to bring CA students together. Astronomy club co-head Aoife Willerjee ’27 said, “Winterfest was a great experience, and I felt a great sense of community.” Willerjee confirmed that Winterfest successfully achieved its goal of building a tight-knit community, making it much more than just a fun event.