Gobblerfest 2010 planned for Aug. 27

Gobblerfest 2010 will take place Friday, Aug. 27. Hosted by the Division of Student Affairs and an array of Virginia Tech and Blacksburg partners, Gobblerfest is in its third year as a Virginia Tech tradition.

For one day, all new and returning members of the Virginia Tech and Blacksburg community are invited to the Hokie neighborhood to share their Hokie spirit.Visit the Gobblerfest website to stay updated on plans for Gobblerfest 2010.

Gobblerfest 2010 chairs are Krisztina Roder, University Unions associate director for event management; Laura Bedenbaugh, Student Activities assistant director of student programming; and Steve Clarke, director of the Campus Alcohol Abuse Prevention Center at Virginia Tech.

Gobblerfest 2010 will be a part of the many Hokie Hi activities planned for Aug. 18 through Sept. 3. Gobblerfest plans include the Gobblerfest outdoor festival, the Class of 2012 concert and pep rally, and late night activities in Squires Student Center.

Gobblerfest was first conceived in the fall of 2008 as a welcome festival for students, staff, faculty, and members of the Blacksburg community. In just two years, this free event has become a highlight of the start of the academic year. Gobblerfest is an excellent way for students to meet each other, explore common interests, and become a part of the Virginia Tech community, all in a healthy, alcohol-free setting.

Gobblerfest 2009 was a huge success, with an estimated 18,000 people taking part in the outdoor festivities and 3,000 people at the late night activities held in Squires Student Center. More than 370 student organizations, businesses, non-profit organizations, and Virginia Tech departments registered for the Gobblerfest information fair, which stretched from library plaza down College Avenue into the downtown Blacksburg business district.

The booths included food, games, free giveaways, and volunteer information. The day's schedule included improvisational performances by the Virginia Tech Department of Theatre and Cinema, acoustic music on the porch of the Graduate Life Center, and a silent auction to benefit the Community Initiatives Fund. The late night events in Squires included a comedian, a movie, and a dance party. The entire event concluded with a midnight pancake breakfast.

The Division of Student Affairs is hosting Gobblerfest with the coordination and cooperation of a variety of campus, municipal, business, and non-profit partners. As plans are developed, more information will be available on the Gobblerfest website and the Gobblerfest 2010 event page on Facebook.

Written by April Baker. Baker, a junior from Fort Defiance, Va. is majoring in English in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.