This week, students are taking a trip to the Mesozoic Era. Themed “Jurassic Parka: The Carnival Before Time,” this year’s Winter Carnival began Feb. 5 and will continue through Feb. 9.
The weekend will feature “staple” Winter Carnival events, such as the annual Polar Bear Plunge — which will be named the “Prehistoric Plunge,” according to the Winter Carnival website — at Occom Pond and ice sculpture competition, as well as other dinosaur “branded names and posters” to fit the theme, according to Winter Carnival Council co-chair Noah Da Silva ’25. He explained that the Council has collaborated with “different parts of campus” to support this year’s “exciting” theme.
“You have the [Hopkins Center for the Arts] involved — we’re playing ‘Jurassic Park,’” Da Silva explained. “You have the earth sciences [department] involved. We’re leaning into the academic side, so we can really stretch the theme wide.”
According to Da Silva, the Council has been working with the earth sciences and biology departments to display the College’s fossil and dinosaur bone collection. The Vermont Institute of Natural Sciences will bring live raptors — “modern day dinosaurs” — to campus in an event titled “Raptors LIVE!” on Feb. 8 at 2 p.m. in the Collis Center for Student Life, according to the Winter Carnival website.
This year’s dinosaur theme, named after the “Jurassic Park” films, was initially pitched by Winter Carnival Council co-chairs Da Silva and Kennedy Wiehle ’25 and voted upon by members of the council, Da Silva said. He explained that he is known as “the dinosaur guy” on campus and hopes students will learn from the weekend’s events that “ancient life is super cool.”
Biology professor Kevin Peterson opened Winter Carnival on Feb. 5 with an event titled “Pints and Paleontology” — which included a Q&A discussing Peterson’s research on “dinosaurs, ancient life and [Peterson’s] work in unravelling the genetic secrets of prehistory,” according to the Winter Carnival website — offering appropriate drinks for all ages.
But Da Silva said the Council also wanted to make sure this year’s Carnival “makes it out of Collis.” Other events include “Jurassic World Gyrospheres” — a race involving zorb balls on the Green, according to the Winter Carnival website — and the “Jurassic Park” screening on Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. The Hopkins Center will also screen “Winter Carnival” — a 1939 film “shot partially” at Dartmouth and written by Maurice Rapf ’35, Budd Schulberg ’36 and F. Scott Fitzgerald, according to the Winter Carnival Website — on Feb. 8 at 7 p.m., and students will wear inflatable dinosaur costumes on the Green throughout the weekend, Da Silva said.
Across campus, students have expressed excitement for the upcoming events. According to Jim Heller ’28, Winter Carnival was “one of the reasons” that he applied to the College because it “seemed like the coolest thing ever.”
“In the middle of winter, after the holidays die down, there’s this huge fiesta,” Heller said. “It has a bunch of history, and it’s famous, not only at Dartmouth.”
Heller said he is looking forward to the “crazy” Polar Bear Plunge but is unsure whether he will be able to participate due to the high level of interest. According to the Winter Carnival website, the plunge is “subject to change based on weather conditions and safety concerns,” and being in line “does not guarantee you the chance to jump,” which will be determined by event staff “based on ice conditions and the timeline.”
Kevin Moran ’25 said he plans to take the plunge because it was canceled last year due to weather conditions. Despite “knowing it will be horrible,” Moran said he does not want to “leave [the College] without doing it.”
According to Da Silva, the ice on Occom Pond is “currently twelve inches thick,” which would have been enough to support a four-ton Maiasaura Hadrosaur dinosaur — a species of duck-billed dinosaurs native to North America — so the conditions are safe enough for the Polar Bear Plunge.
Moran said he “want[s] to cherish” his last Winter Carnival because he “has not really participated in the past.” He plans to attend events at Collis, participate in Phi Delta Alpha fraternity’s annual Chili Cook-off and go skiing, he said. He added that he is considering entering the ice sculpture contest with a sculpture of Kirby — a character from the Super Mario Bros. franchise — with his friends.
“It feels kind of sad to think about how this might be the last time I spend a copious amount of time in the winter with a bunch of people from different parts of the world,” Moran said. “When else will you be able to participate in a multitude of snow events or winter events in one weekend with a group of friends?”
Wiehle said she “feel[s] more connected to campus” by planning the Carnival. She added that she wants to welcome freshmen to Dartmouth through the weekend’s events and show them “what winter in Hanover looks like.” The co-chairs noted how “special” planning Winter Carnival has been this year.
“Watching …Collis [transform] is pretty special,” Da Silva said. “You see people come down and go swimming and take pictures with their friends … and our poster will be hanging on the wall in Collis for years to come. That’s a really special feeling.”
