On Friday, October 13th, the French Club hosted the annual Le Festival D’Automne, or Autumn Festival in the Teacher’s Cafeteria from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM. The French Club has been running this event for over thirty years, and the main purpose of the festival is to welcome people back to the school, and to promote the French Club. “This was our welcome back to school, welcome freshman, and welcome seniors event. We had people of all ages here, and everyone was invited. We also had teachers here who were from different departments,” stated SHS French teacher, Laura Bell.

The event was free, and there was Buon Amici food served. There were also many different activities and games. “We ate, we got to meet new people, and then we had activities. We had team competitions with prizes. There was a ring toss with pumpkins, and a ‘make a mummy’ activity. People wrapped their team members with toilet paper to make them look like a mummy, and whichever team won got prizes. Then we ate dinner, and lastly, we had a game of charades in French, but the answers were identifiable by people who don’t speak French. One thing we emphasize is that you don’t have to speak French to come here because it’s about having fun and meeting new people, and that’s exactly what happened,” commented Bell.

Organizing the festival required a large amount of preparation. “We started planning this event in late September, and it was not an easy task,” said Vishnu Srinivas ’20, an officer of the French Club. However, it was all worth it, as there was a large crowd, and many people enjoyed it. “I really liked how the food was French themed with the cheese plate and the crackers. The mummy wrapping activity was fun, and seemed fitting for Halloween and autumn,” said Anika Dhuri ’20.

The French Club is planning on repeating the festival next year, so be sure to make it! To join the French Club, attend one of the Friday meetings during seventh period in room 407. The club is open to anyone, and previous knowledge of French is not required.