Palm trees billowed near the dance floor and the rumble of coasters rang in the background as students rocked to the beat of the DJ at Northwood’s “Ride or Die” Winter Formal, held at Knott’s Berry Farm on March 5.
Students danced and enjoyed refreshments and dinner consisting of mac and cheese, salad, chicken strips and more at an event center just outside the park, complete with a DJ and camera crew. For those not as big on dancing, the park provided plenty of entertainment for the duration of the dance, giving students a chance to explore the Wild West or ride familiar favorites such as Silver Bullet.
“The lines were long, but even just hanging out with friends while waiting was fun too. And of course, the two rides we got to go on made it all worth it,” junior Ilia Dolouei said.
The sophomore and senior class councils collaborated to plan the dance, as well as the dress-up days and ‘90s themed lunchtime trivia held the week prior. The class councils initially ran into trouble during the venue reservation process but were able to secure one at the theme park.
“It was really stressful because our original venue canceled on us, and if Knott’s didn’t accept us, there would have been no venue,” senior vice president Andy Hoang said.
Although Knott’s as a location was a novel idea, some students felt that the dance aspect of Formal was lackluster.
“Having the dance at Knott’s sounded really exciting, but since the park was an option nobody really stayed at the dance floor,” sophomore Tyler Truong said. “The students who didn’t buy a park pass with their ticket missed out on the real fun.”
Since Homecoming was informal, students were excited to formally ask each other to a dance for the first time in two years.
“Seeing people’s askings on Instagram made it feel more like a traditional school dance,” junior Anna Hong said. “A lot of them were really creative and girls ended up asking guys too, which was cute because we won’t have a Sadie’s this year.”
While Winter Formal was open to all Northwood students, prom is only available to juniors and seniors. Underclassmen will have to be asked to the dance by an upperclassman. ASB and junior class council are currently planning the dance, and details will be announced on April 15.