Penn State Harrisburg brought the heat on October 4, 2023, with its annual Bonfire in the ‘Burg. The bonfire was hosted by the Office of Student Engagement and was held on the lawn next to the power plant. The Lower Swatara Fire Department assisted in keeping the flames under control.
At the event, the first few hundred attendees received a free sweatshirt. There was also a lot of food and drinks available, including pizza from Stacks. Perhaps the most enjoyable part of the bonfire was the band, who belted out classic modern hits. Participants danced, jumped up and down in excitement, and sang along with the band. People threw a football and frisbee and socialized while sitting in front of the fire as well. The bonfire created a great opportunity for students to escape the stress of college for a few hours from 8-11 pm.
A Penn State Harrisburg senior, Ben Iskander, described how the bonfire created a stress-free environment.
“No one there was stressing,” Iskander described.
“And I think that’s because of the environment and the work that the faculty put in,” he added.
Reese Archambeault, also a senior, alluded to the sense of community that the bonfire was able to elicit as well as his thoughts on the band
“I feel that it’s a sense of community because you go to a place where a lot of people are going through the same things as you,” Archambeault said.
“Overall, the band was really good. You know, and the music they played I felt was more current to the early 2000s era,” he added.
Both seniors praised the faculty for the work they put into the event.
“Usually something like this just promotes fun, and I think they just did it perfectly,” Iskander claimed.
“[I] felt the faculty was really putting in the work to, you know, making people feel involved,” Archambeault added.
The bonfire has been held annually for the last few years, and the Penn State Harrisburg community should keep an eye out for any updates on when the next one will occur. For information on future events hosted by the Office of Student Engagement, be sure to check out the Corq app and Calendar of Events.
