An Artful Evening at the Halloween Pubnight
A collection of UTM clubs hosted an event for all students in the spirit of Halloween
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On October 16th, the UTM Art Club, Filipino Students Association, Harmonix, UTM E-Sports, Erindale Gaming Organization, Gacha Game Club, and Department of Visual Studies Students Society (DVSSS) hosted their annual Halloween Pub Night at the Blind Duck Pub and Student Centre. The event started at 6 p.m., and the clubs offered several fun stations, including Pumpkin Painting, Scavenger Hunt, a photo booth, and a live mural painting.
The Blind Duck stage was occupied for the night, serving as a music venue where student-run bands got to perform original songs or covers, and attendees could sit, watch, and mingle with their peers. Some students opted to dress up, attending in various costumes, such as anime characters, pirates, insects, goth princesses, skeletons, popular movie characters like the Minions from Despicable Me or Batman, or gaming characters from Genshin Impact. When not watching the live music performances, students could paint little ceramic pumpkin ornaments in the student room to take home for the upcoming season.
Andie De Castro, a fourth-year student double-majoring in technology, code and society (TCS), and communication, culture, information, technology (CCIT), is currently serving as President of Harmonix, and was one of the main organizers for the event. She believed the night was a big success and may have been their best Pub Night because attendance was through the roof with around 200 tickets purchased.
“When I first got into university, I always heard about the anti-social reputation UTM had. I was really worried about not doing much outside of class and not having any friends or [a] sense of community. I hope Pub Night is an opportunity for everyone, especially first years, to experience campus life, de-stress from academia, connect with other students, and just have fun,” De Castro shared with us.
As for her plans in the future, De Castro hopes to plan more events for larger attendances and properly organise activities, like clearer sign-up sheets for events or booking bigger spaces.
Silas Abubakar, a second-year student double-majoring in anthropology and English, and serving as the Art Club’s social media coordinator, shared that the Pub Night was a collaborative event where students got together for fun events and relaxed between the midterm study season. Despite some events conflicting with people’s academic schedules, they “highly recommend[ed] anyone who has the time to go, because university isn’t just about studying!”
Abubakar mentioned that the Pub Night event took a few weeks to prepare for but went very smoothly, and had support from the UTMSU to help cover the few hundred dollar costs. They also stated that the Art Club plans to have weekly painting sessions, as well as regular office hours for members to meet the executive team members and learn a few things about art. They plan to host new events throughout the rest of the fall and winter semesters.
In between the music performances, there was a period where attendees could show off their costumes on-stage. April Roy, a third-year student double-majoring in professional writing and communication (PWC) and CCIT, has been a returning participant to the Halloween Pub Night since her first year, where she first performed a dance with the UTM K-POP and Synix club. This year, she entered the cosplay challenge and won second place. Roy believes that future UTM events should aim to include more collaborations, leading to branching out with more activities, and giving more chances for students to show up. “The more the merrier,” Roy claimed.
Belinda Zhao, the president of the Art Club, and a fourth-year student in the commerce specialist program and an economics major, said that this year’s Pub Night was a way to create a sense of community. Zhao mentioned this was the first time they charged attendees for the event, which was originally a free, drop in event—but she was absolutely delighted at the turnout, regardless!
Zhao shared that the clubs “want to help build community at UTM. And also, it’s a tradition for our clubs to come together and have a fun night.” Zhao plans for more collaborative events in the future, with hopes of hosting with the CCT419, User Experience Design – UXD and Board Games class, an event Gatcha club, an arcade event with the Esports club, an art drive, and an art market in March.
The Harmonix club will be having regular karaoke/open mic events and a coffeehouse for acoustic-vibe performers in the near future. De Castro also encourages staying tuned for more Harmonix Club events on their Instagram or Discord profiles.
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