Fall Festival hosts pumpkin carving contest, battle of the bands

Although it was 80 degrees outside and felt more like summer than fall, students came out to take part in pumpkin carving contests and drink apple cider.

University Program Board put on a Fall Festival Friday at the University Green, an event UPB director Megan Rogers said is UPB’s biggest of the year.

“It’s just kind of a welcome fall event to have fun and get and everyone out there,” Rogers said.

There were a variety of activities at the festival, including carnival games and a paint a ceramic pumpkin station. Free hot dogs and caramel apples were also provided.

Two new activities took place this year: a pumpkin carving contest and battle of the bands.

The battle of the bands was collaboration between WCRD, the campus radio station, and UPB.

“We normally do a battle of the bands in the spring, and we thought why not try to have it at Fall Fest, which is our biggest event of the year, and combine them so we get more people involved in it,” Rogers said. “So it was just another fun way to mix it up and do something different.”

The winner of the battle of the bands competition was Chased by Captives. As the winners, they received a $200 gift card for the Muncie Music Center, while the second and third place bands received a $100 and $50 gift card. Students voted for the bands after they played by putting tickets in their favorite band's bowl.

“We’re kind of always open to playing new shows at new places, and we’ve never played here before since we are from Fort Wayne,” said Ryan Wahl, Chased by Captives drummer.

For the pumpkin carving contest, contestants had an hour and a half to carve their pumpkin. Students then voted for the pumpkins.

Senior photography major Eileen Castello said she judged the pumpkins based on creativity and clarity.

The winners of the contest, junior telecommunications major Jes Wade and sophomore actuarial science major Ben Fehler, worked together to carve their pumpkin with an image of the Pokémon character Charmander.

“I did a lot of the cutting and he did the shaving and we tried not to cut each other,” Wade said. “It was actually my first time ever [carving a pumpkin]. My friends always did it for me before.”

Third place winner freshman nursing major Ashley Combs said she did the carving contest because she likes fall and it sounded fun.

“It didn’t take me long to [carve my pumpkin] – we had an hour and a half, but it only took me about an hour,” Combs said. “It took me longer to get all of the materials out than to do it.”