Arrowhead High School is hosting the annual Hawksfest in the North campus parking lot of Arrowhead on September 25 from 4 PM until 9 PM.

Students, parents, teachers, and friends are invited attend the festival prior to the Catholic Memorial versus Arrowhead home football game also on September 25, starting at 7 PM. This particular game is also Arrowhead’s homecoming game.  

Hawkfest occurs from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM. Hawkfest this year is scheduled to overlap with Arrowhead’s homecoming game.

Hawkfest is run by student in Arrowhead’s sports marketing class, as well as members of the extracurricular club DECA. The festival includes inflatables, carnival games, food stands, as well as music and dance performances. The cost of an all access wristband is fifteen dollars. This includes all attractions except for the adventure rock climbing which is five dollars or ten tickets.

Arrowhead students are both the attendees, as well as the behind the scenes participants for the festival. The sports marketing class at Arrowhead handles the sponsorships to fund Hawkfest. Students in the sports marketing class are required to obtain a minimum of four sponsorships. Sponsors are able to contribute anywhere from $100 to $1,000.

Students participating in the sports marketing class or DECA are required to participate in the overall construction of the festivities.

Sports marketing student, Junior Lauren Henzlik says the work that is put into Hawkfest as “very intense and almost frustrating.”

Henzlik says the layout of the festival to be different than prior years, featuring a new game “Soccer Knockers” that has not been featured before. This game, Henzlik says, is “a game of soccer played in a inflatable bubble type thing.”

Sports marketing students are required to work a shift at the festival.

Students in the sports marketing classes also must participate in the sales of promotional Hawkfest T-shirts. These T-shirts are fifteen dollars each. They are sold by students personally, in the school store, and at the festival. The students travel between the North and South campuses of Arrowhead in order to reach all grades.

The profits made from Hawkfest go to multiple sources. Part of the proceeds go to HAWS (Humane Animal Welfare Society), other parts go to the DECA club to assist in paying for field trips and other expenses. A piece of the profits also goes towards the K9 Unit.

Arrowhead junior Jack Becker says Hawkfest is “intense.”

Local businesses attend the annual Hawkfest to promote their product. In past years, Hawkfest has featured local businesses such as Rocky Rococo’s and Culver’s. Other food services come from local areas to add to the mass amounts of food sold at Hawkfest.