When I showed up at the doors of Tinkham Veale Ballroom at 8:55 and next to no one was waiting to get in, I had a bad feeling in my gut. This feeling only intensified when the event started late at 9:15, and still no one was there. Walking into the doors of the ballroom, I could tell this event was going to be a major disappointment.

Winterfest was marketed as a fun, winter event with food, games, live entertainment and a bar. With over 200 presale tickets, the event seemed like it was going to be full of life and fun. Well whoever does marketing for Winterfest certainly knows how to twist the truth to try to bring in a crowd.

For starters, the marketed food was in reality just mediocre pizza and water, which honestly was probably the one of the highlights of the event. I saw more people crowding around the pizza table than people actually by the stage listening or dancing to the music acts.

When it came to the live music, I was not impressed. The DJs were unable to capture the attention of the little crowd that was there with the exception of the rap group “Dan + Armaan.” I’m still not sure why this one group got so much hype and involvement from the crowd. There was nothing particularly special about their rap style and overall they seemed rather bland. They clearly lacked the lyrics and charisma of well-known rappers.

The high point of Winterfest was without a doubt the Case Kismat dance team. With high energy, exciting choreography, and the most crowd involvement of the night, they were stars of the night. When they were dancing, everyone who had been off of the sides gathered around and gave them their full attention. Kismat was such a crowd grabber that after they left, most of Winterfest’s attendees left with them.

With the music in the background, there were supposed to be games going on as well, however those too were a disappointment. The one game available was unable to draw participants so much so that the people running it finally gave up and went over to the bar to get a beer.

Speaking of bars, Bon Appetit clearly knew what they were doing when they decided to cater alcoholic beverages to those 21 and over. The vast majority of those of drinking age were taking in beer after beer, probably to help them cope with the situation. As one attendee said, “If it weren’t for the alcohol this would feel like a middle school dance.”

Overall, Winterfest was definitely a huge letdown, as seems to be the trend with quite a few of Case’s social events. When the MC had to beg people to stay, they clearly did something wrong. The only good thing to come from this event was a phrase me and countless others repeated to ourselves to get through the night, “It’s for charity.”