The sun has been peeking through the clouds. The warm spring breeze has started to untangle all the girls’ long loose waves. Despite the hovering stress, laughter and smiles fill the air. One more week until…CARNIVAL! As a freshman, I have yet to experience this Carnegie Mellon tradition. Other than the typical things you find at any carnival like rides or concerts, CMU puts its own twist on the event with buggy racing and booth.
Most organizations and Greek chapters build a booth every year according to the Carnival theme. The booths are generally two-story structures that remind me of themed buildings from Disney World. For the fraternities or clubs with many male members, hammering and building can be easily split among people. For sororities or any all female organizations that participate in booth, it is a whole new challenge. However, what is incredible about CMU is that no matter what organization you are a part of, there is always going to be diversity in its members. Even in a sorority, there are girls who are fantastic architects, designers, artists, and so on. Walking into build hours each week leading up to Carnival, I’ve been amazed to see sisters with power tools in their hands cutting wooden pieces and drilling them together to form the structure of a booth.
Since it is the 100th anniversary of Carnival this year, the theme is the “Best of the Best,” leaving the creative side of booth up to the organizations. Some organizations based their booth off classic literature, some off popular movies. Because there is not a real set theme, the beauty of booth truly shines through. Booth is that one chance for each organization to be as creative as they can and literally build their visions. With originally programmed interactive games and beautiful interior design, it is a chance for everyone to put a little piece of their imagination into something tangible, even if the structure only stays standing for a few days.
With move-on coming up for the organizations to start building their booths on Midway, it’s time for all of us to throw on the hard hats, pick up drills and brushes, and learn a new meaning of all-nighter. Drill away your frustrations, paint your imagination, and enjoy the charm that booth brings to Carnival. Happy boothing, Tartans!