By Kyle Nichols

     UMPI’s campus center became a hotspot for food, drinks and music during this year’s Homecoming celebration. With delicious walking tacos, an inviting beer garden and an electric atmosphere from great music, members of the UMPI community enjoyed an evening of festivities as a part of this year’s Unexpected Food Fest and Beer Garden.

     This year, the food festival was one of the best parts of Homecoming. The main dish was walking tacos. These tasty treats were made of crunchy chips topped with veggie or meat stuffing, lots of cheese, lettuce and tomatoes. People loved the walking tacos because they were full of flavor and easy to move around the campus center with. “I wasn’t expecting walking tacos tonight,” graduate student Dakota Morrow said. “I was expecting burgers or hot dogs like other special events, but this was different. I enjoyed the tacos a lot.”

     Once you got your taco, the beer garden was the place to be. Attendees could grab an ice-cold beer for just $5 or go for a glass of wine for $7. The beer garden provided attendees with a lively and friendly atmosphere while they enjoyed their favorite beverages as Aroostook Sky, Professor Larry Feinstein’s band, was playing some great songs. 

     “I love Larry’s band,” Tori Raeihle, a junior at UMPI, said. “I’ve seen him at the farmers market in town multiple times this summer. His music is very alternative, but that’s why I like it,” Raeihle added.

     Homecoming at UMPI was a great week with even better individual days to make it come together. The food festival gave people some great food to go with good drinks at the beer garden. Students from on campus as well as commuters came to the event in large numbers to see what the festival had to offer and it was very unexpected. With this year’s Homecoming in the rear view now, many are already looking forward to what events will show up at next year’s celebration.

Emily Sipe and Larry Feinstein play music at the Homecoming Beer Garden.