Sophia Willard ‘29

On Saturday, October 4, the Sarah Lawrence Activities Council (SLAC) hosted their annual Fall Festival, a charming celebration of the approaching season. In addition to pumpkin painting and lawn games, the club organized a caramel-apple making station, an array of seasonal refreshments including apple cider and hot chocolate and an ambient setting complete with music and decorations. The festival was held on Westlands’ North Lawn and was well attended by the student body.

Anastasia Grishikashvili ‘29, an international student, attended the festivities this past weekend and described her experience to be surreal. The first-year hails from Georgia and is incredibly passionate about the fall season, claiming it as her favorite. Grishikashvili explained her feelings about the season so far: “My hopes and expectations for the campus were high because I’d heard from a lot of students that Sarah Lawrence and Bronxville in general are very beautiful… [so] I knew that fall here was supposed to be very beautiful, too.”

Although the pressure was on to display the perfect east-coast autumn, it seems that Sarah Lawrence College has already fulfilled Grishikashivili’s wildest dreams of red trees and October skies. “The leaves have already started to fall—the Sarah Lawrence College sign in front of Barb is already covered.”

SLAC’s Fall Fest was the cherry on top for Grishikashivili, and proved itself to be a pleasant surprise and a lovely display of the season. “I thought that the Fall Fest would just be music and a simple gathering— that’s why it is called ‘fest,’ right? It surprised me, though, because it turned out to be a lot of people, so many activities and a lot of fun!” The celebration also marked a milestone in the student’s life as it was the first time that she tried a caramel apple, which she described to be a “very American experience."

More popular than the desserts, painted pumpkins and apple cider were back at the Fall Fest. A new addition was the bagels catered by Utopia Bagels via complimentary meal tickets, a treat certainly worth mentioning as it was wildly popular among the attendees. Students had the option of a plain, egg and cheese, or bacon, egg, and cheese bagel along with an assortment of cream cheeses and spreads. The hard-working crew in the company’s mobile kitchen was slammed with a large line that lingered until the business packed up for the day, a clear favorite of the students.

Based on the combined efforts that contributed to the production of SLAC’s seasonal event as well as the positive feedback from attendees, it is safe to say that the 2025 Fall Fest was both a success and a wonderful way to welcome autumn on Sarah Lawrence campus.

Fall Arrives at Sarah Lawrence