The overwhelming smell of fried foods and greasy carnival rides lingered in the air as students and Muncie residents poured into the Late Nite Carnival on Saturday.
Students had the luxury of free admission and food, along with additional costs for carnival food vendors and games.
The carnival offered 16 rides, 10 game booths, three free food booths, nine additional food vendors and a main and side stage for performers.
Freshman elementary education major Shannon Sweeney said she thought the carnival was a good way to end the school year.
"I haven't been to a carnival since I was little," she said. "And the fact that it's free is awesome."
Late Nite administration coordinator Kelsey McPheeters said this carnival is different from typical city carnivals.
"Any other carnival event you go to probably isn't going to be planned by students," the junior public relations major said.
McPheeters said what separates the Late Nite Carnival from any other carnival is the variety students bring to the event.
"Most other carnivals are annual and have the same thing every year, but since we have different students planning it every year, you get a different take," McPheeters said.
Mark Rose, a sophomore math education major, said he appreciated the costs of everything at the carnival.
"There's a lot of stuff to do - a lot of rides, and because they're free, it's really nice to be able to go on everything," he said.
A wide range of performers took the stage, including a fire dancer, a contortionist, a DJ and several musical artists.
Danielle Lutton, a sophomore biology major, said though she didn't ride many rides, she still enjoyed the environment of the carnival.
"I think it's really fun," she said. "I like the atmosphere. It feels like a normal carnival. It kind of feels like my town's carnival. I don't do too many rides - I kind of get motion sick - but I like watching everything."
The original date for the carnival was Friday, but had to be moved to Saturday because of rainy weather.
McPheeters said she didn't expect the 6,383 people to attend the carnival because of it being postponed from the original date.
"[Attendance is] usually between, like, 5,000 to 7,000, so it's kind of average attendance," McPheeters said. "But for it being a rain date, it's exceptional attendance."
McPheeters said the rain delay usually causes attendance to drop about a thousand people as compared to attendance on the original night. She said last year's carnival, which took place on a Saturday because of rain, had 3,000 to 4,000 people in attendance.
McPheeters said many of the members of Late Nite think the carnival was a hit.
"We think it was [a success]," she said. "At first, we were iffy about the rain date, because it usually drops down attendance, but [Saturday] was such a nice day for a carnival, so we think it really helped us out."
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