The 2024 annual Winterfest marked the start of the holiday season and allowed the community to unite and celebrate with one another. Hosted by the Burlingame Parks and Recreation Department, the street was decorated with booths and lights as families and friends walked through Burlingame Avenue, partaking in activities like a photo stand with Mr. and Mrs. Claus, listening to chorus performances from the music department, holiday train rides, and watching the annual tree lighting ceremony in front of city hall.
Sophomore Kristen Li, member of the Burlingame Youth Advisory Committee, attends events organized by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. Members of the committee handed out light-up necklaces and assisted with Santa’s photo station.
“I think this event is a great way to bring everyone together. There’s a bunch of clubs here who have set up booths,” Li said. “I don’t have a favorite stand, but Santa’s train riding around town is cool.”
For sophomore Mia Milks, her favorite part of Winterfest was visiting the various booths, especially enjoying the baked goods sold by local clubs and vendors along the street.
“I think this is important because it really brings the community together, and it’s really a great [event], especially before the holidays,” Milks said.
For numerous clubs and organizations at Burlingame, the event is an opportunity to fundraise and spread awareness about their organizations through activities and bake sales. Anya Malhotra, president of the Youth Business Club, shared how the event not only brings the community together but can also encourage new members of the club to get involved.
“We are bringing the freshman and sophomores in and familiarizing them with what we really do in this club, and I think specifically for our club too, all the money we make from our bake sale goes into our active stock portfolio and so it’s a special way for us to be hands-on and see what’s really out there,” Malhotra said.
Iron Panthers also put on a show with their robot demonstration. A member of the team, sophomore Norah Zitnik, shared that the event was especially important because the team could connect with younger children and inspire them.
“[The children] really don’t know much about robotics at this point, but if we inspire them now, they will be encouraged to join and explore different robotics opportunities in their community [in the future],” Zitnik said.
Another popular booth at Winterfest was the Red Cross Club, which sold items like shrimp skewers, hot chocolate, and Cup-of-Noodles. The student-run stand encouraged attendees to give back to the community by donating the proceeds from their purchases to the Red Cross.
“There’s such a huge gathering of people, so you get a lot of traffic and you get to engage with the community in a really great way,” junior Red Cross club president Emily Meng said. “I think especially since there’s so much traffic, you can make a lot of money for charity and there’s such a festive holiday spirit to go with it.”
