Band students celebrated Halloween festivities at a party on Wednesday, Oct. 24. The Halloween party was a fun way for students to get their minds off of the marching season and was an opportunity to relax with friends.

The band officers decorated the band hall with spooky figures and spider webs around the lockers. There was a skeleton hung from the ceiling and smoke blowing a skeleton near the entrance. Students also donated food to the party so that there would be enough for everyone.

“I really enjoyed the decorations and food around the band hall,” Julia Fang ‘22 said. “I liked spending time with my friends and it was a really fun experience.”

During the party, students got the chance to carve pumpkins if they brought their own. Carving knives, stencils for the faces, and glow in the dark buck teeth were provided so that students could carve and decorate their jack-o’-lanterns.

“Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year because it’s spooky season. I just love it, the whole season and fall,” Jack Flanagan ‘19 said. “For band, I’m kind of sad because this is my last year, but I’m also happy because it’s been a great four years with the program and I’ve just seen the band as a whole grow so much over these four years. The party was really fun and I’m excited for more Halloweens in the future.”

Other than carving, students could bob for apples in a cauldron or dance to the halloween music. There was also a costume contest for students to dress up and compete in to win a bag of candy. Cassidy Nash ‘20 and Marco Martinez ‘20 who dressed up as an opposite gender couple were the first place winners for the contest, while Joshua Shippen ‘22, who dressed up as Napoleon Dynamite, got second. Penelope Higdon ‘22 and Jack Barlow ‘19 tied for third, dressing up as Velma from Scooby Doo and a bluebird from last year’s marching show Bluebird.

“It was a great party in general,” Emily Tran ‘21 said. “The apple bobbing was really interesting. Everyone dressed up eccentrically and I thought the party was really fun.”

Overall, the Halloween party provided students time outside of rehearsal to celebrate Halloween. After all of the effort put in this season, the party allowed students to relax and enjoy the time as the marching season began to wrap up.

“I really liked getting to hang out with everyone from band outside of the rehearsal setting,” Sophia Castaneda ‘20 said. “I think it’s really important to have that balance of fun and being focused on the field. I really liked getting to spend time with my friends and have a conversation about things other than band.”

The band’s next performance will be Saturday, Oct. 27 at the Heroes Stadium in San Antonio, Texas. Visit www.westwoodband.org for more information.