Brrrrrrrrrrrr-ing your dancing shoes! The Winter Formal is nearly upon us!

by JENNY GREEN

Throughout the academic year, Augustana holds three dances. The First Class Bash kicks off the year as the Last Class Bash says goodbye to our peers and sanity before finals week. Closer on the horizon, however, is the Winter Formal, and according to Augustana Students’ Association Vice President Student Life, Christine Tran, is “special because people who don’t typically enjoy dancing still attend for the entertainment and fancy free food!”

“Winter formal is an annual event in which the Augustana Students’ Association hosts the first Saturday of February, that is (a) dance/social. It is accustomed to be a themed event, with this year’s theme voted by the students being Winter Wonderland.”

Elected from a poll on the Augustana Students’ Association’s Facebook page, the theme of Winter Wonderland triumphed over its two competing themes: City of Lights, and Arabian Nights. Nevertheless, the theme of the dance is set to give inspiration to the decorations and not, as Tran explained, the outfits of the guests attending. “Wear what you are comfortable and dapper in! Whether it be just a dress shirt, or a full on suit, or your grad dress – just because the theme is Winter Wonderland doesn’t mean you have to wear all white or dress up as Elsa (but if anyone dressed up as Olaf they would be my absolute hero).”

The dance is set to take place on Saturday, February 4 at the Norseman Inn and begins at 8:00pm. The schedule for the evening is food and live entertainment from 8:00pm until 10:00pm, then followed by the dance until the end of the night, at 2:00am. Both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages will be served throughout the event and guests are advised to bring their government issued IDs as they will be checked at the door along with their ticket.

In addition to live entertainment and dinner, there will be “a photo booth and seating (for when you’re not dancing your feet off).”

For safe and affordable transportation, two shuttle buses will drive guests to and from the event at fifteen minute intervals from 8:00pm to 2:00am. The buses will station themselves outside of the Faith and Life building to pick up guests and drive directly to the Norseman Inn and vice versa.

Tickets for the formal are $15 which include shuttle bus services, entertainment, food and a glass of champagne, complimentary of the ASA. Tickets are being sold starting in the middle of the third week of January in the cafeteria, forum and ASA office “typically before lunch, during lunch, or after lunch”. Tran encourages students to “keep an eye out for (ASA) social media posts to stay updated on where and when they are being sold.”