Winter Fest is an annual event held by the BCIT Student Association and partially funded by the City of Burnaby. This year featured more vendors, rotating interactive events, and a larger space where students could decorate their own ornaments and bracelets. The event occurred on November 15 at the Burnaby campus.
A total of 23 vendors came to the Great Hall in Building SE2 to offer various goods, from cookies and decorations to clothes and comic books. Around noon, it was jam-packed with students, and I was pleasantly surprised to see such a success.
Thoughts from Vendors
Jessica Nguyen, the co-owner of BAK’D Cookies, says Winterfest is easily one of her favourite markets. She said that she had to fight with her brother, with whom she runs her bakery, to come to BCIT as she really wanted to be here. Nguyen was delighted to find everyone, including students, faculty members, and other vendors, being so friendly and “the nicest people ever.”
Reece Koufalis, on the other hand, is a BCIT student who also runs a business called Eceer Company. To him, Winterfest is a package of “great experience.” Koufalis said he enjoyed connecting “with all the students at BCIT” and “meeting all the other vendors.” Having also been a vendor at the previous Winterfest event, he commented that he is “getting excited for this growing Winterfest” after seeing it boom with more people than last year.
Free Caricature Drawing
The mid-day interactive event this year was booming as well. Daryl Stephenson, a caricature artist, came to Winterfest to draw free caricatures for anyone interested! I personally waited in a long line with other students to get my caricature drawn. Students, including myself, found it quite intriguing to see an artist draw us with humorously exaggerated facial traits or expressions. Since I was interviewing him about how he came to Winterfest and what he thought about the event, he included a microphone in my caricature.
Stephenson, who stepped in for a colleague who couldn’t make it, said he used to study Film and Animation at BCIT back in 1983. Many students were eager to ask if he would return for Winterfest next year.
What did Students Think?
The general feedback from students interacting with vendors was quite positive. When asked, they said that they were happy they could come by and destress for a while.
Based on the feedback, the plant fundraiser for the food pantry seemed to be one of the most popular stops for students. On Winter Fest day, I saw students carry plants of all sizes, from tiny miniature ones to large pots. Seeing how popular the Houseplant Swap event was at the BCIT library on November 7, this made a lot of sense. Many students were eager to see the plants return, even outside of Winter Fest.
For next year, Vansh Sidhu, one of the students who attended the event, suggested that having a “bigger venue” would help. He said that “there were so many businesses that wanted to be here but couldn’t because there was no space.” Other students, like Nea Pieroelie and Jasmine Putri, suggested “having more snacks as [they’re] a sucker for snacks.”
Overall, it was a fantastic event that both vendors and students enjoyed. It fits nicely with the upcoming holiday theme, and best of all, everyone is looking forward to Winter Fest next year.
