Virginia Tech’s seventh annual welcome festival, Gobblerfest 2014, is set for Friday, Sept 5, and will showcase all there is for students to do on campus and in the surrounding community. 

Festivities run from 4 to 8 p.m. that afternoon.

An annual Hokie tradition since 2008, Gobblerfest brings students together as they explore common interests and become more connected with the Virginia Tech and Blacksburg communities. Booths from student clubs and organizations, businesses, non-profits, and Virginia Tech departments will offer food, games, giveaways, and service opportunities during an afternoon of entertainment, information, and fun.  

This year, six color-coded neighborhoods will be set up where Gobblerfest booths will be grouped by common theme or interest. Walking paths around the Drillfield will include staffed water stations with booth locations in each neighborhood.

Students who rode the Ferris wheel during Gobblerfest 2013 got a bird’s eye view of all 534 booths, 360 of which were student organizations. The Ferris wheel will be back this year, along with mechanical swings, the ultimate obstacle challenge, the wrecking ball, and other rides and games.

Student organizations will showcase their skills with live performances on the main stage. The food court will feature menu items from Virginia Tech’s top-ranked Dining Services, as well as from Buffalo Wild Wings, Subway, and India Garden Restaurant. 

Gobblerfest headquarters, located on the Drillfield across from War Memorial Gym, will have information about organization check-in, volunteer check-in, booth locations, and first aid.

Live tweets and updates on the Gobblerfest Facebook page will be posted throughout the event. 

This year, Student Centers and Activities will challenge students to share at least three selfies on Twitter using #Gobblerfest with a @VTSCA mention for a chance to win prizes. The selfies must be taken at three locations: at the food court, at a student organization booth, and on a Gobblerfest ride. The winner will be announced on Student Centers and Activities’ Twitter on Saturday, Sept. 6.

Hosted by Student Centers and Activities in the Division of Student Affairs, Gobblerfest is sponsored by 105.3 The Bear, Terrace View Apartments, and many other community partners.

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.

Written by Brooke Williams of Christiansburg, Virginia, a junior majoring in English and communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.
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