Campus Activities Board hosts Fall Festival in Brownsville
Guadalupe Castellanos (right), Campus Activities Board vice president of membership, signs in students to the third annual Fall Festival Nov. 17. Attendees received a free CAB cup, a temporary tattoo and miniature pumpkins for a decorating competition in the Student Union’s La Sala on the Brownsville campus. JESSE VALENCIA/THE RIDER PHOTOS
The Campus Activities Board hosted its third annual Fall Festival, which featured pumpkin painting, s’mores and cookie decorating Nov. 17 in the Student Union’s La Sala on the Brownsville campus.
CAB provides a well-rounded university experience by promoting school involvement, school spirit and campus traditions, according to its website.
The Fall Festival was first hosted in 2019 with the intention of becoming a yearly tradition, but it could not be held in person in 2020 due to COVID-19, according to Juan Castellanos, CAB vice president of marketing.
“In 2020, when we went online, we couldn’t host it,” Castellanos said. “Then, I think, 2021, we were back in person. So, we were able to host it but at a smaller scale.”
The festival, which is usually held the last week of October during Madness, was created to balance the events on both campuses, making it solely a Brownsville campus event.
“Edinburg has Madness and then Brownsville has Fall Festival to even it out,” Castellanos said.
True to its name, the festival is everything fall-related.
“We host it as, like, a pumpkin-patch style,” Castellanos said. “You get to paint pumpkins. [We’ll have] a little, like, pumpkin patch photo area. … We have a pie-eating contest, just anything you can think for fall.”
Jacaranda Garcia, a biomedical sciences senior, said she was happy to experience events back on campus.
“Most of my college experience was during the … pandemic, so I wasn’t able to experience this one but, even with the rain and stuff, I’m glad they still hosted it,” Garcia said. “It’s really fun right now. We’re decorating pumpkins. There’s a lot of food, so it’s very cool.”
Several students said they were excited to finally have a Brownsville tradition.
“I feel very excited because most events are held in Edinburg and, as much as they try to host events here, I feel like maybe they’re not as big as this and the Fall Festival is a tradition for … Brownsville,” history senior Julissa Arredondo said. “So, I’m very excited to finally have one event.”
Martyn Vasquez, an integrated health sciences freshman, had not been to any events on campus because most of them were in Edinburg. Vasquez said he was happy to finally be able to participate in an event in Brownsville.
“I feel great,” he said. “Most of the events always happen in Edinburg, so it’s nice to have it here for once.”
Castellanos said that CAB is looking to fill positions for next semester.
For more information about the positions or upcoming CAB events, visit the organization’s Instagram and Facebook pages, @utrgvcab.
