AUS Carnival entertains campus community

Organized by the Student Council at American University of Sharjah (AUS), the AUS Carnival began yesterday, October 28.  Professor Kevin Mitchell, Chancellor of AUS; Dr. Juan Sanchez, Provost and Chief Academic Officer; as well as other senior members of the administration, were present at the opening of the event. The two-day fun-filled festival will conclude today.

Speaking about the aim of the event, Abdul Rahman Al-Janahi, President of the AUS Student Council, said:

“We had two objectives when we organized this carnival. We wanted to get the clubs to work with one another on different fun themes for the carnival, as well as give all members of the campus community a chance to have fun and relax, especially as this has been a very busy and tense period of midterms and projects.”

Forty-four student clubs are participating in the event, which features 10 entertainment themed tents including: a haunted house, a games tent, cartoons and anime, space, magic, arts, Disney, and Marvel vs. DC.

“In each tent, four to five cultural and interest-based clubs work together on the theme assigned to them. It is a great way to get everyone to work together. We also have musical and singing performances, raffles and fun games for children,” said Al-Janahi.

Speaking about what the different tents have to offer, President of the Italian Club Abdul Rahman Aly, who worked along with the Bangladeshi, Lebanese and Indian Clubs on the Arts tent, said: “We are featuring street art, a photo booth, face painting, an opportunity to design your own phone cover, a caricature artist, and finger painting.”

He added: “The focus is to make people have fun. It was really great working with the different clubs because we are all usually focused on our own cultural activities but this was a great way to collaborate and think outside the box.”

Visitors also have the opportunity to enjoy the Space tent, which includes a tunnel through which they can experience space imagery, and a hub that contains a painted wooden pod featuring the NASA space control station.

“We wanted to create a ‘wow factor’ to attract and entertain people. We wanted them to have a fun experience. The Astronomy Club worked closely with the Physics, Computer and Computer Engineering Clubs on the tent and we divided the work according to what we each are good at,” said Aravindh Anil, President of the Astronomy Club.

Visitors also had the opportunity to savor different types of cuisine at the carnival.AUS offers a wide variety of student-led clubs and organizations and opportunities for students to participate in various activities and cultural events.