Homecoming dance heads back to the races this year
Photo courtesy of WIKIMEDIA.ORG
This year’s homecoming will take place at the Santa Anita horse racetrack.
September 13, 2017
USB is placing bets that students attending this year’s Homecoming will enjoy taking a magical carriage ride through the enchanted storybook evening.
Dubbed “Happily Ever After,” the first dance of this school year will be held on Oct. 7 at Sirona’s Sports Bar, just steps away from the famous Santa Anita horse racetrack in Arcadia, where during the day adults place wagers on the results of horse races.
“It’s kind of like a storybook, and I think an easier way to understand it would be ‘Into the Woods,’” said junior Virginia Wang, one of the USB coordinators of the dance. “The movie was a bunch of fairy tales clashing together, and that’s just kind of what the dance is.”
The theme is based on the combination of a variety of fairy tales, however, according to senior Jackie Gabela, another USB dance coordinator, not all are necessarily Disney stories.
“It’s just a mix of a lot of fairy tales like ‘Red Riding Hood,’ ‘Cinderella,’ ‘Rapunzel,’ stuff like that,” Gabela said.
At the dance, a horse-drawn carriage ride around the Santa Anita Racetrack will represent the Cinderella aspect of the theme.
Karaoke and flipbooks will also be among the activities offered this year.
As always, photobooths will be present to capture memories during the dance.
“The venue already has a lot of what we really liked, which is another reason why we chose our theme because it went with our venue,” Wang said.
Homecoming was held at the Santa Anita Racetrack and Sirona’s in 2013 as well.
The spacious indoors site will feature a bar and seating area, and the venue will be serving fare from Frostbites Crepes & Frozen Delight.
The dance floor is also separated into smaller areas, which may be more appealing to individuals who would prefer not to dance in the open, exposed areas that venues usually offer.
“Hopefully people love it because personally both [Jackie and I] love the horse and carriage idea, so I think that was super cool,” Wang said. “I think it’s a very different type of feel, because it’s not at a rooftop, it’s not [all] inside. It’s half inside and half outside. It’s a big area where you can do whatever you want.”
Presale tickets will begin selling on Sept. 18 for $60 per person with an activity card and $65 without, lasting until Sept. 22. Regular sale tickets will be $65 per person with an activity card and $70 without, starting from Sept. 25 to Oct. 3.
