Fair Before the Fight to feature games, food

Inflatables, free food and games will fill Hooker Fields on Thursday night.

Starting at 6 p.m., the first “Fair Before the Fight” will take place as part of Homecoming.

The fair is part of a plan by Student Body President Jasmin Jones to bring back the excitement that comes with Homecoming games, said senior Tyler Singleton, coordinator for the event.

“One of Jasmin’s goals was to bring Homecoming back to the level of excitement that it once was,” he said.

Jones was able to achieve this goal as Carolina Fever, the Residence Hall Association and student government worked together to sponsor the event.

Singleton, game day affairs committee chairman for Carolina Fever, worked with sponsoring organizations for two months planning the fair. Organizers said they expect to draw a crowd of more than 800.

Hooker Fields will be filled with six or seven inflatables, including a bungee run, a Velcro wall and a 90-foot obstacle course, which Singleton said is the longest the company has.

There will also be a “cash cube” filled with money, gift certificates and prizes from local businesses.

In order to get into the cube, students must stand in line and correctly answer a Carolina sports trivia question. If the student is correct, he or she will enter the cube. If not, he or she must go to the back of the line and answer another question later. But Singleton is confident that the questions will be extremely easy.

A giant inflatable Twister game will also be available. How exactly the giant game will be played is still unclear to organizers.

“I don’t have any idea,” Singleton said. “However people want to do it when they get there.”

There will also be a joust, 150 free pizzas, several relays, popcorn, cotton candy, a frozen T-shirt contest and a jam band that bangs on trash cans and other items.

As a sponsor of the event, Amp Energy will also be giving out free energy drinks.

The entire event was budgeted at $4,000, which included  inflatables, food and a stage. The budget was split between the organizing groups and was supplemented with some outside help.

This year, Carolina Fever decided to put on this event instead of the carnival it tries to put together once a semester, Singleton said.

“This is the best way to get the most participation — by teaming up with a bunch of organizations,” he said.

All of the organizations involved expect the fair to be a success and become something associated with future Homecoming weekends.

The event will run from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. All students wishing to use the inflatables must sign a waiver upon entrance into the field.



Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.