By: Travis Archie
The Festival of Lights took place in the Tucker Student Center on Thursday, December 4, at 7 p.m. This was the first time the event was held in the Tucker Student Center, due to electric work occurring in Dover Theatre.
The Festival of Lights is a timeless annual tradition at Gardner Webb University. It is a time when the entire community comes together and enjoys the yuletide music played by the Department of Performing and Visual Arts .
The Trumpet Ensemble played many recognizable tunes such as O Come, O Come Emmanuel and Joy to the World. The Flute Ensemble graced the crowd with a collage of Christmas melodies that were put into one movement.
The Choral and Concert Choirs performed a broad range of choral arrangements such as Away in a Manger with solos by Heather Feldman and Jordan Cochran.
The show stopper was Glory Hallelu, which was sung jointly with the Concert and Choral Choirs with a soulful solo by Dr. Megan McCauley.
After closing remarks and benediction from Tracy Jessup, the audience members walked towards the middle of the campus, often referred to as the quad; to the big Christmas Tree where Student Body President Delton Barnes and Flossie Bonner, Dr. Bonner’s wife, lit up the tree with lights.
The remainder of the night people mingled in the Tucker Student Center; eating sweets and drinking warm apple cider. Although the venue was different, the concert had the same effect on people; the joy of Christmas.
