‘Twas the night of WinterFest, and all through campus holiday carols could be heard coming from the Campanile bells.

Families stood in line for photos with Santa, cookies were decorated and crafts and winter activities filled the Memorial Union.

Even with the sudden cancellation of the headliner, Jennette McCurdy, the Student Union Board was still pleased with the turnout. According to Nicole Wendel, special events co-director, getting refunds to those who had already purchased tickets was not an issue. The Student Union Board was also able to financially recover from this cancellation.

“We handle our contracts in a way that it was not an issue,” Wendel said. “Everyone will be able to get a full refund.”

Noah Sonie

Minneapolis-based magician and mentalist Noah Sonie proved to be the main event of the night, with many guests gathered in the Great Hall.

Sonie was featured on an episode of the CW’s “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” in 2021. His act is a mix of illusions and mentalism, with every trick leaving the audience and volunteers mesmerized.

“I just have to say–and the school did ask me to say this–please do not try this at home,” Sonie said as he was welcomed on stage. “Don’t try it in your dorm room either, I’m watchin’.”

For his first trick, Sonie swallowed a piece of thread, along with 10 needles. After receiving a drumroll from the audience, he coughed it up with each needle tied on the thread.

The majority of his show skewed away from magic tricks and fell closer to mentalism. Throughout the night, he was able to guess the word a volunteer read from a magazine, put someone under waking hypnosis and correctly guess what items, locations or people they were thinking about.

For his final act, he asked random guests to shout two-digit numbers to him, which he multiplied to find a sum of 61,090,022. This number somehow matched the serial number of the dollar bill a volunteer had signed earlier in the night. It also matched the number he wrote on a piece of paper inside an envelope he had given to a guest at the beginning of the show.

Jingle Jog

First-Year Council, a student organization to represent and support first-year students, held a 4k run throughout campus, ending by the Campanile. At the start of the race, Hot Hands were given to runners to help survive the cold.

Parker Wilson, junior in kinesiology and health, was a participant in this event. She was cheered on by friends Lily Bennett and Sophia Palashewski, along with her twin sister Lindsey Wilson. They made signs saying “Run Parti P Run,” “Parti P Fast and Furious” and “Go Parker,” for her to read as she crossed the finish line.

Everyone who participated received custom shirts made by the organization.

Tree Lighting Ceremony

To begin the ceremony, President Wendy Wintersteen thanked everyone for coming out and expressed her happiness toward everyone being able to be together throughout this semester after the past few difficult years.

Count Me In, a campus a cappella ensemble performed carols for the crowd of spectators before and after the tree was lit.

The ceremony took place following an open house hosted by Wintersteen, where attendees gathered in Beardshear Hall. Here, a string quartet of students, including violins and a cello, performed music for guests.

Door Decorating

Student organizations competed in a door decorating contest, where WinterFest attendees could vote for their favorite. These doors were decorated by organization members prior to the start of WinterFest.

First place went to the Student Union Board with “Rockin’ Around the Sub Tree.” The runner-up was Dance Marathon with “No Kiddo or Snowflake are Ever the Same.”