Northern Michigan University celebrates Winterfest 2024: “Spinning with the Snowflakes.” Winterfest is an annual series of campus-wide events held during the winter semester, hosted by the NMU Special Events Committee (SEC).
“This year, our theme is 'Spinning with the Snowflakes,' which was the name that our committee came up with,” said Ali Deutsch, special events coordinator. “It's meant to symbolize record spinning, like with a DJ. It's music themed, so we decided to go with genres. Every event ties back into music or a specific music genre. We're kicking it off this Friday [Jan. 26] with our open skate, which involves dressing as your favorite music genre theme.
“One new event that just got approved is line dancing [March 22]. I'm really excited about it. It's going to be country-folk themed. This event will be in partnership with the NMU swing dancing club; they will assist calling the lines. There will also be a dance workshop at the beginning, along with free dance time. Another event will be the Dive-In Movie, which is a partner event with Campus Cinema, where the CSE will show a movie in the PEIF Pool. Students can enjoy a movie while floating around on a pool floatie."
Other events include Love Song Open Skate on Feb. 16 and Mocktails on Vinyl Feb. 23. Deutsch said the committee is hoping to bring back disco bowling, scavenger hunt and painting. She added that Winterfest is an opportunity for students to celebrate the season, get involved on campus and create a sense of community.
“I think that's part of what can make the ‘Northern experience' so special is the really in-depth community and opportunities that exist, even in the winter when it might not be as easy to travel or go outside. We still have events that can help you connect with people, get moving and do something fun that makes the winter special and find things to celebrate, especially during the gray months.”
Students can find events via CSE Instagram, @nmu_specialevents. Use the Winterfest tag on the Hub, search events go to tags and use tag Winterfest 2024. As events get confirmed and spaces are reserved all events will be added to the hub tag and updated on Instagram. For more information, please email sec@nmu.edu.