The arrival of a nasty cold front will not impede the beginning of St. Andrew Catholic School’s Annual Festival, which is entering its 18th year.
Instead, the cold will add a bit of winter charm to the long-standing Cape tradition, according to Assistant Principal Colette Ott.
Ott said the school’s students are excited about the change in the weather, and the temperature change is not expected to affect attendance. Not unless it rains.
“I don’t think the cold snap will bother us,” she said. “They (the kids) just enjoy the change. I’m not sure the parents enjoy the change, but the kids do. I’m sure we’ll do brisk sales in hot chocolate.”
Though the rides arrived a bit earlier than usual, school and carnival staff hurried to put the finishing touches on the event Wednesday afternoon.
Nearly every inch of the school’s grounds are covered with some kind of carnival offering: the Tilt-A-Whirl, a massive Ferris wheel, the Zipper, the Gravitron, even a kiddie style roller coaster were all squeezed together on St. Andrew’s property.
Ott said the school’s office was busy selling the discounted ride bracelets all week long, prompting the assistant principal to believe they were going to have a good turnout, as usual.
Then there were the students, growing increasingly excited as they watched the rides being constructed outside their classroom windows.
“The kids are so excited about the rides,” Ott said. “The Freak Out is what the kids really want, but the Yo-Yo is really popular, too.”
The school is expecting “thousands” of people to turn out over the event’s four-day run.
Of course, the school will offer more than just rides and elephant ears. There also will be a silent auction, a Texas Hold ’em Poker Tournament, a raffle and live entertainment.
The poker tournament is a big draw, with multiple prizes available for the winners including a high definition big screen television and a laptop computer for a $100 buy-in.
Then there is the auction, which features a variety of themed baskets assembled by individual classes and selling far below retail price, according to Ott.
“We’re getting so many things last minute for these baskets,” Ott said. “That’s our main push right now, getting those finished.”
The four-day carnival begins today and runs through Sunday. Times vary for the event.
The discounted ride bracelets are only available for $55 until 10 p.m. today. There also is another discounted bracelet available for Sunday only for $20.