Spring Fest Returns at Kaiser

On Friday, March 24, Kaiser hosted Spring Fest, which turned out to be a fun mixture of food, music, and games.

The festival, which took place from 5 to 7:30 p.m., featured several food trucks and stands, performances from the Niu Valley Middle School Band and the Kaiser drama club, and activities from various school groups. There was also a silent auction, proceeds of which went towards Project Grad 2023.

This year marked the return of Kaiser’s Spring Fest. Organized by the school PTSA, the festival hasn’t been held for the past several years. 

One benefit of Spring Fest was that it allowed students to help run various activities with their clubs. These included small games, arts and crafts, as well as the sale of food and drinks. 

“I thought it was a good experience overall,” said Everly Zhao, who did face painting for Kaiser’s Anime Club at Spring Fest. “I think it really gave a sense of leadership to all the clubs and the people participating.” 

“I had fun with a lot of people,” he said. “It was tiring, but overall, I felt like it was a good working experience.”

Previously, Spring Fest was much larger of an event. It was typically held on weekends, allowing for the festival to last a full day, and often contained rides, dozens of vendors, and several performances. This year, some students were slightly underwhelmed by the lack of activities available. 

“The food was all gone by the time I got there, so I didn’t really get to enjoy anything,” said Bruce Yun-Furukawa, who attended the event. He hoped that Spring Fest would happen again next year, but felt that “they should have more food options and more stuff to do.”

Indeed, the choices for eating were pretty limited, especially for an evening event. The few food trucks, most of which had long lines, ran out of food midway through the festival. Meanwhile, the student groups selling food generally only had snacks, which was ill-suited for those hoping for a proper dinner. Even the weekly farmers’ market at Kaiser usually has more food vendors than were present at Spring Fest. 

“[Spring Fest] was good,” said William Gaucher, who also attended. He also believed that the school should “definitely should do it next year, but probably add a little bit more games [and] maybe more food.”

While the relatively small number of food and activity options were a drawback, the evening still proved to be enjoyable. The number of people who attended was impressive, given the event hadn’t been advertised as much as other school functions. The environment was also well created, with additional seating and strings of lights being lined between trees.

Overall, the return of Kaiser’s Spring Fest was certainly a success. Hopefully, this event can be expanded in the future and turned into a yearly tradition.