By Kailah Johnson, Contributing Writer
Susquehanna’s Student Activities Committee closed the door on summer and opened the door to the autumnal season with Fallchella, an autumn themed festival that included food, live music and various giveaways on Sept. 29 on Degenstein Lawn.
Students in attendance could browse different areas of the lawn depending on if they wanted some good tunes or a quick bite to eat.
The day began with the musician Eems. His set was a mix of covers of pop songs from the mid-2000s to his own original songs, where he performs acapella beatboxing with acoustic vocals and unique instruments like the ukulele.
Following Eems, indie-folk pop band duo The Bergamot took the stage. The duo, consisting of husband and wife team Nathaniel Paul Hoff and Jillian Speece, played guitar and keyboard. The duo performed songs from their latest album, “Mayflies.”
Speece ran into the audience and brought students onstage with them to sing the chorus alongside them. After their set, Speece later spent her time in the dunk tank as students and her husband took their shots at the dunk tank.
Musician Aileeah Colgan performed songs about her husband while he accompanied her on guitar. Her song talked about her dreams and having a family that does not always support those dreams.
Closing out the set was Backtrack, a full acapella group consisting of Mallory Moser, Melissa Jordano, Mike Hinkle, Jojo Otseidu and Johnny Buffalo. The group performed a range of pop songs from a variety of decades during the duration of their set.
Though the crowd was small at first, it allowed for a more intimate experience with the musicians and the audience.
“It makes the music feel more personal with a smaller crowd and I don’t regret coming to this. I’d rather be here than anywhere else,” first-year Jack McGuinness said.
The musicians were able to speak directly and interact with their audience throughout their performances.
The crowd did increase as the afternoon went on and the raffle winners were announced. The raffles prizes included a Nintendo Switch, Susquehanna merchandise, autumn themed mugs and other miscellaneous gifts.
SAC president Bailee Wenckus was proud of how the Fallchella event turned out. “It’s stressful but it all came together really nicely,” Wenckus said. “My club is very strong and they all really work well together and for it being only the second year in a row we had little to no hiccups, so I’m very satisfied.”
On the lawn, there was a mix of summer and autumn-themed activities. Students could indulge in the remains of summer with games like ladder toss and sweet treats like snow cones and cotton candy. If students presented their Fallchella bracelet, they received free food and snack options to enjoy.
If attendees were looking for more fall themed activities, they could enjoy pumpkin painting and taking photos in front an October themed photo area decorated with painted pumpkins and hay bales.
After each musician’s set, they also enjoyed the activities, had their shot at the dunk tank and took a chance to sit out on the lawn chairs to watch the performers that followed.
Whether students were responding from the pumpkin painting tables or musicians shouting to the students during the dunk tank, it seemed as though everyone was enjoying themselves in the midst of the summer-like weather.
SAC’s upcoming events include comedian Jose Sarduy on Oct. 10, a bamboo planting session on Oct. 17 and a corn maze on Oct. 30. November’s events open to students on the ninth with games of paintball and the 12th with tacos and trivia.
