UB events are quite common, but one as unique and successful as Ellicott’s Renaissance Fair is quite the opposite. The fair, held on March 28 from 8-11 p.m. in The Landing, featured diverse food and activities that stayed true to the theme while keeping fairgoers engaged.
“We thought it was unique and never saw it happen before,” Natasha Acevedo, a sophmore Health and Human Services major said when asked about choosing the Renaissance theme.
Attendees enjoyed competitions of strength and endurance, culminating in a comedy show to close out the night. Although organizers acknowledged the challenges of planning the event, they expressed great satisfaction with its outcome.
The fair kicked off with a selection of refreshments, a mini-game corner and an arts and craft station. By far, the most popular attraction was the refreshments, with the line spanning just about half the Landing. The wings, meatballs and sliders were the biggest hits, with some items running out in just 30 minutes.
In the minigames section, fairgoers could choose from ring toss, cornhole, skee-ball and hybrid game combining darts with foam axe throwing. Participants who played any of these games before 9 p.m. earned one raffle ticket per game. These tickets could be used to enter drawings for one of four prizes: Airpods, a LEGO castle, a dragon Squishmallow and a medieval tavern mug.
The arts and craft section held its own among the event’s activities. Located onThe Landing’s second floor, it offered three activities: coloring pages, mini-canvas painting and the DIY flower wreath station.
Around 9 p.m., the first challenges began, giving anyone who wanted to participate a chance to test their physical skills in hopes of winning more raffle tickets.
The first event was a potato sack race, with five participants racing and the top two finishers earning five tickets each. The second event was a tug-of-war, where three-person teams would challenge each other, with the winning teams earning nine tickets each.
After all of the competitions concluded, UB’s Stand Up & Laugh club took center stage with a successful stand-up comedy show that had the entire fair laughing. As the fair came to a close, raffle tickets were drawn, marking the end of an event that saw over 300 attendees. Behind the scenes, the fair was meticulously planned. The set up and design were developed months in advance, unifying various individual ideas.
With eight resident assistants and multiple Residence Hall Association members contributing to the production, every aspect—from the medieval music to the collaboration with the Stand Up and Laugh club—was a result of the collective effort.
Deanna Souchet-Soto, a graduate communication student, the Red Jacket assistant hall director and ringleader of the event—posing as the ‘queen’ of the fairgrounds— said the real highlight of the event was, “Seeing all the work they’ve put in over the past couple of months coming to fruition.”
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