On Friday, February 2nd, hundreds of Newport Harbor students flocked to Knott’s Berry Farm for the annual Newport Harbor Winter Formal. The 2018 Winter Formal theme was “Your Mom goes to Formal”- from the classic movie Napoleon Dynamite.On a particularly chilly February night, many students first met to take pictures, then went to dinner and finally Knott’s Berry Farm. Galaxy Park in Dover Shores was a very popular destination for pictures, packed with many groups and hundreds of students until sunset. The favorite rides open at Knott’s were Supreme Scream, Silver Bullet, and Montezuma’s Revenge.

Junior Kili Skibby had an interesting time at winter formal. Her varsity water polo tournament occurred on the same weekend as formal, so while the rest of the school took pictures and got prepared to head to Knotts, Kili won her evening game against El Toro High School. Since pictures are a crucial part of the Formal experience, the entire girl’s water polo team chose to take pictures before their game in order to capture their memories before they would have to ruin their curled hair as they plunged into the freezing pool. Kili also saran- wrapped her hair to put into her swim cap, but it got wet and needed to be blow dried all the same.

Junior Grace Fay also had an exciting time at formal. Her group had over 40 people in it, and she said it was very fun to “hang out with people she usually doesn’t hang out with.” Her favorite part was getting ready with her friends and said that she “looks forward to going to Winter Formal next year as a senior.”

Formal was still fun for Kili Skibby and many other sailors. Junior Helen Coyne “had a blast at Formal this year, even though it was freezing!”. She also hopes that next year is warmer and more of her favorite rides are open, like Ghost Rider and Xcelerator. Coyne also liked the theme- Napoleon Dynamite- since according to her that is “one of her favorite movies.”

Overall, Winter Formal was a fun event with over 500 students present at Knott’s Berry Farm. This annual tradition serves as the reward for completing the first semester and finals week, giving the students a fun time to recharge them for the new semester that begins the following Monday.