Category Archives: Events

Entertainment, Events, Local, Travel/Food

2026 Minnesota State Fair highlights

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By: Josephine Feliciano and Collette Uran

This year’s State Fair was the 167th year of the official MN State Fair. It was also the 100th year of the Tilt-a-whirl! We broke another record for attendance on the first day; the record for us to beat next year is 155,185 attendees on the first day. Lots of new foods were brought into the fair’s collection of famous foods to get; some on sticks and some not. The hottest newest foods this year that were getting people to wait in lines for hours were the Pickled Pizza, Bao barbecue, and Hmong corn dogs.

But we also can’t forget the stands with classic fair foods that topped the charts, like Sweet Martha’s Cookies, Fresh French Fry’s and, of course, the Pickle Stand. In the 2026 year of the fair, Sweet Martha’s Cookies raked in 5.24 million dollars, The Fresh French Fry stand made 1.59 million dollars and last but not least, the Pickle Stand made 1.71 million dollars.

Another big hit at the fair every year is all the shows and live music. This year the artists that were playing at the Grand Stand were: Bonnie Raitt, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Sierra Ferrell,  Tommy James & The Shondells and Herman’s Hermits, Hairball, AJR, Brad Paisley, HARDY, TLC and Salt-N-Pepa with En Vogue, the Amateur Talent Contest Finals, and CeCe Winans. The most attended show was a tie between “Weird Al” Yankovic and the triple threat TLC, Salt-N-Pepa, and En Vogue. They were both sold-out shows, with 14,018 attendees. 

Other popular shows at the State Fair this year include Durry, Margo Price, The Sugarhill Gang, Yacht Rock Revue, Nur-D, All-Star Stunt Dogs Splash, and the Timberworks Lumberjack Show. There are more than 100 acts and 900 shows across all the free stages at the fair. 

Top attractions to see at the fair include classics like the butter sculptures, crop art, the midway, and all the animals. This year at the fair there was also The American Wheel Honoring America 250. It’s the world’s biggest traveling ferris wheel, standing at 230 feet tall. It has 45 river gondolas, each one themed after a different US president.

2026 Cactus Blossoms Band Performing at State Fair
2026 Cactus Blossoms Band Performing at State Fair, by Travellers & Tinkers via Wikimedia Commons

Even though we broke a first day attendance record at the fair this year, it doesn’t mean the rest of the week was bursting full of fair goers. Many attendance trackers for this year said that attendance the rest of the week was significantly lower than the rest of the previous years. About 1.92 million people attended the fair this year, which is slightly fewer than the previous two years. Yes, the overall attendance was low this year, but some certain parts of the fair saw record attendance. The transportation agency of the fair saw record ridership this year due to people getting sick of paying high amounts for parking and also just even trying to find places to park. The buses allow faster and more efficient ways to get to the fair.

Many leaders of the fair staff say that a reason for lower attendance this year is because of the late start of the fair and its overlapping with many school start dates. This year, over half the schools in the Twin Cities started school either before or during the time of the fair, which makes it harder for families and teens to come to the fair on weekdays. But due to this overlapping, it made the weekends busier and full of families with young kids wanting to go to the fair on the few days they could.

Over the course of the ten days at the fair this year, we experienced high temps and high humidity. Even though the fair dates were closer to fall starting, we still had seasonably hot temps. The hottest days were the first Friday to Monday. Those temps reached 90 degrees or slightly above, but also, due to high humidity temps, it made the already hot air feel hotter. 

All in all, the 2026 Minnesota State Fair was a hit as always! Hundreds of thousands of visitors walked through the gates every day, and had a blast with both the new and the old state fair staples. 

Events, Getting To Know/History

What is a quinceañera?

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By: Arturo Benitez-Osorio

In the middle of the picture is my cousin on her 15th birthday. In our culture, we do something called a quinceañera.

It’s a tradition in Latin American culture when a girl celebrates her 15th birthday. Many celebrations begin with a Catholic mass to honor the occasion; then the party starts. Many quinces use a doll to represent the birthday girl, symbolizing the end of her childhood and the father swaps her flat shoes to high heels to represent that she’s ready for womanhood. Then everyone dances and eats a variety of Latino food.

How did quinceañeras?

Long before European arrival, the Mayans and Aztecs celebrated the age of 15 as the end of puberty. It marked a young woman’s readiness for marriage or community service.

Fun facts

The honor of damas and chambelanes: This represents the young woman’s closest peers supporting her transition. The girl is usually accompanied by 14 damas and chambelanes representing the 14 years of her childhood, plus herself to make it 15.

The mass before her birthday party: Its a Spanish/Catholic religious tradition/ceremony of a quinceañera of a way of giving thanks and renewing baptismal vows, with a special blessing as she transitions from childhood to womanhood.

The last doll: The birthday girl will give away her favorite doll to a younger sibling or relative signifying the end of her childhood

Events

Women of Asian Pacific Islander month: Kamala Harris

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By: Alexsia Williams

U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris speaks at L.A.’s Families Belong Together March in June 2018. 30 June 2018, by: Luke Harold via Wikimedia Commons

Kamala Harris who was born to Shyamala and Donald Harris, was born on October 20th, 1964, in Oakland, California. In her early childhood years Harris attended Thousand Oaks Elementary School, in Berkeley’s public school system. Alongside attending school, Harris also attended both a Black Baptist church and Hindu temple, to honor her biracial heritage.

In her teenage years, Harris attended Westmount High school In Montreal, Canada, which was 60% percent white and 40% percent Black at the time. Although she initially struggled with the language barrier at the French speaking school because she spoke no French, her peers and friends during that time described her as “very smart” and “eloquent.”

After high school, Harris majored in political science and economics at Howard University in Washington D.C. During her time at Howard, she chaired the economic society, led the debate team, and was a member of a sorority.

After attending Howard, she returned to California to attend law school to earn her Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1989, where she served as the president of the Black Law Students Association.

After passing the bar exam in 1990, Harris began her career as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County to focus on prosecuting child sexual assault cases. Not long after, she moved to the San Francisco district attorney’s office, where she ran the carrier criminal unit.

Today, I spoke by phone with @WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. We discussed how the United States will work as a constructive partner to strengthen and reform the WHO—which will be a vital step to controlling COVID-19. 21 January 2021 by: The White House via Wikimedia Commons

Moving forward in later years, Harris served as the 49th vice president, alongside president Joe Biden through 2021 to 2025. With president Biden withdrawing from the race in July 2024, Harris became the democratic nominee for president but ultimately was defeated in the general election by Donald Trump.

Although not winning the 2025 election, Harris is recognized for being the first Black American, and the first South Asian American to hold the vice presidency. She continues to still advocate and be a leading voice for abortion rights, gun violence prevention and many other policies.

Advice/How To, Events

Spring break

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By: Sema’Jae Tate

Photo by Cris Mu00e9nlu00e9s on Pexels.com

Hi Highland scholars!

Spring break is around the corner and I know it brings a lot of excitement and relief after working hard and it brings a sense of excitement and relief after weeks of hard work and routine. It’s a time to take a break from school, relax and recharge, whether that means traveling somewhere warm, spending time with friends and family or just enjoying some quiet days at home.

The longer days and warmer (hopefully) weather make everything feel more alive, giving people the chance to get outside and try new things. Some things you could do over spring break include going to city clubs and programs, working, and sports. Other people may travel. I myself plan on trying out for an AAU team and to visit family.

Spring break isn’t just about fun, it’s also a chance to reset, clear your mind and come back feeling refreshed and ready to finish the rest of the year strong. Personally, I’m looking forward to pushing myself to get all my work done on time, to finish the year strong.

No matter what you end up doing for spring break, hope you have an amazing time!

Events, Getting To Know/History

A history of Halloween

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 By Hannan Mohammed

Today, Halloween is known as a holiday for people to dress in their scariest costumes and go door to door trick-or-treating, asking neighbors for candy to take home with them. Some people may even carve pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns to celebrate the holiday. But, how did Halloween and its ways of celebrating it come to be, and what was this holiday originally?

Sanhaim

Originally, the holiday of Halloween was known as Sanhaim, a pagan festival celebrated by the Ancient Celtic people. According to an article by BBC, this festival was celebrated about 2,000 years ago, usually on November 1. This was also the first day of winter for the Ancient Celts, and so this festival was also seen as an important transition in the year. According to the World History Encyclopedia, this holiday may have even represented the Celtic New Year.

This holiday was seen as the day in the year where a gap between our world and the spirit world was open, so that the spirits of the dead could cross over into our world. And, according to the World History Encyclopedia, these spirits could pass freely through to the human world and be either good-natured or harmful.

To celebrate this festival, the Ancient Celts would wear their own sort of costumes made from animal skins and heads, a little similar to what we would wear today, and priests (called ‘druids’) would light large bonfires to offer animal sacrifices.

Hallowed Evening

Over time, the popularity of Sanhaim spread across Europe, becoming especially well-known in Ireland. However, Christianity was also spreading by the 5th century, and one way that the Catholic Church attempted to convert the Celts was to incorporate pagan holidays into their calendar.

To do this, All Saints’ Day was moved to November 1 by Pope Boniface IV in the 7th century, incorporating elements of Sanhaim into the holiday. Because of this, the day before became known as the ‘Hallowed Evening’. As the centuries passed and All Saints’ Day became more widespread, this name was shortened to Halloween, and more traditions that we associate with the holiday today became more prominent:

Carving Pumpkins

The holiday tradition of carving pumpkins to create jack-o’-lanterns came from Ireland, centuries ago. Using turnips rather than the pumpkins we use today, Irish people would carve scary faces into the turnips in order to ward off a spirit called Stingy Jack.

A famine in 19th century Ireland forced the immigration of millions of Irish people to the United States, and they brought this tradition with them, making this Halloween activity more well-known. Over time, pumpkins became more widely used as they were easier to carve than turnips.

Image by Lirazelf via Wikimedia Commons

Souling

Trick-or-treating used to be an activity called souling, and it originated in medieval England as a tradition to take part in on All Saints’ Day. To participate, people would go door to door exchanging prayers for food. By the Victorian era, the food that was most often exchanged was a pastry called a ‘soul cake’. Today, people often exchange a greeting of ‘Trick-or-treat’ for pieces of chocolate and candy.

Image by Malikhpur via Wikimedia Commons

Conclusion

Overall, the holiday of Halloween was first celebrated by the Ancient Celts as the festival of Sanhaim, and the holiday was incorporated into the Catholic calendar as the ‘Hallowed Evening’. Over time, the spreading popularity of this holiday and other traditions such as souling and carving turnips and pumpkins turned this into the Halloween that many people celebrate today.

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Editorials/Student Voice, Events, School Life

Nationwide walkout

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By: Siri David

Photo taken by: Josie Hodson

On July 27th, at Annunciation school, Minneapolis Catholic school students were sitting in the pews of church during mass. Sitting outside of the windows was 23-year-old Robin Westman. Once mass started Robin shot through the window. Robin killed 2 kids and injured 19 other people. Robin shot a total of 116 rifle rounds. After Robin did this he then shot himself. Robin had attended Annunciation and was always known to be quiet and reserved to most people; it seemed he didn’t like school.

This shooting was heart breaking. Over the past decade school shootings have become a lot more common. They are the leading causes of death right now for teenagers and children. In 2025 there were a total of 90 incidents of gunfire on school campuses. It has become a nationwide issue that our schools need to be better protected and that kids should feel safe within their place of learning.

The shooting at Annunciation helped start the idea of doing a nationwide walk out. This walk out was put together by an organization called Students Demand Action. The organization used social media platforms to spread the event. Most schools had a club within their school that organized everything for them. Highland had our school’s Good Club organize the event. This club is led by three members who brought together Highland students by posting all over their social media.

The walk out lasted around an hour and a half. We met up with students from two other private schools (CDH and SPA). There were over 100 kids who were participating from Highland.

The whole goal of this walk out was to raise more awareness to the fact that students don’t feel safe in schools, and that gun violence is affecting our day to day life and whether students feel safe in school or not.

Clubs and Activities, Events

Highland’s 2025 Chinese New Year’s most significant performances

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By: Jooney Freddieson and Aalovely Lor

Chinese New Year is one of the most important traditional holidays in Chinese culture.

It is typically between the end of January to mid February and in 2025, Chinese New Year was from January 29th to February 12th.

Every year, Highland Park Senior High School students and teachers celebrate Chinese New Year by performing dances as well as singing and showcasing a play.

( 舞獅 ) Lion’s Dance performed by Julian Falk & Liam Hefferan

The Lion’s Dance is not just a performance but it is a cultural tradition that traces all the way back to ancient China; evolving through each generation.

This dance is significant because when the lunar new year comes around the celebration is intended to ward off evil spirits.

The Lion’s Dance is not only filled with vibrant colors, but it is followed by loud noises, energetic music, and bright lights.

The lion represents a symbol of power, courage, good fortune, and protection in Chinese culture that chases away negative energy or “Nian”.

“Nian” is a mythical monster known to attack villages and leave negative energy in the beginning of the lunar new year, according to Kpbs.org. Which is why the Lion’s Dance is typically known to be performed at the beginning of the Chinese New Year event.

The monster is known to be scared of loud noises, bright lights, and bright colors, which is why the Lion’s Dance is a great tool to chase the monster away.

During the performance the dance was accompanied with loud drums played by two students, symbolizing the terrifying loud noises to scare away “Nian”.

The dancers mimic the lion by swaying, leaping, shaking, often in a playful manner. This adds an element of humor which entertains the audience.

It was cool to see how the music followed the lion’s movement as it got faster and slower.

Our favorite part of the dance was when the lion came close to the audience and interacted with them. The interaction between the lion and the audience created, and added, a more humorous atmosphere.

The Legend Of The White Snake was performed by Highland’s Chinese Immersion 11 class!

Their play gives us insight into the old Chinese folktale about an ancient white snake who transforms into a beautiful woman before quickly falling in love with a young man. 

Despite getting married, he was still unaware of her true form until a monk told him he wasn’t married to a human being; he was married to a snake.

The young man gives his wife wine which transforms her into a big white snake, causing the man to die from shock.

Even though her husband had played that trick on her, she still revived him with her own potion. Once awakened, he realized she was still the person he always loved, someone who’d never do him wrong.

The significance of the Chinese Immersion 11 class reenacting this folktale is that the new year is the year of the snake.

They executed this play perfectly by bringing up beautifully painted sets and a perfect script in between the mix of humor and accuracy.

One highlight from the play was the humorous switch when she turned into the big white snake. The crowd was definitely excited to see the wife go backstage and switch out with the masked snake.

Our favorite part of the play was when the white snake was battling the monk and his two guards for her husband back after he’s been locked up. The music in the background played a comedic role in the fighting; intense but random.

Here is the amazing Chinese Immersion 11 class!