From November 23 to 25, the Student Cultural Festival and Taewool Music Festival were held on campus. The Student Cultural Festival, held by KAIST’s event preparation committee Imagination Effect, lasted three days under the theme of a “wizarding school”. On the second day, the KAIST broadcasting station Voice of KAIST (VOK) hosted the 35th Taewool Music Festival, deemed the biggest music festival in the Daejeon-Chungcheong region.
Students celebrated the eve of the festival on November 22 at Chang Young Shin Student Activity Center (N13-1), where an entrance ceremony for the magic school was held. With an entrance fee of 5,000 KRW, they were able to get assigned to houses, play minigames to test their qualifications as wizards, take photos at the wizard-themed photo zone, and have a welcoming party with food and movies.
Diverse food booths such as waffles by PIAST and hotdogs by STROKE, along with experience booths such as the casino cafe by Mathematical Problem Solving Group and herbarium-making by SEED were run by student clubs in between Ryu Keun-Chul Sports Complex (N3) and the north field from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Food trucks were also available in front of the Undergraduate Branch Library (N10).
A variety of music events were prepared for students to enjoy throughout the three days. On the first day, FRINGE, a casual stage consisting of diverse student musicians, opened in N3 from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. where a total of 18 teams performed. From 9:30 p.m., there were celebrity performances by singers GyeongseoYeji and Punch. In the evening, bar booths and food trucks were placed in front of Auditorium (E15) from 6:00 P.M. to midnight.
The Taewool Music Festival began at 7 p.m. on November 24. Nine teams consisting of undergraduate and graduate students from multiple universities in the Daejeon-Chungcheong region performed. Voted by the audience, Seyeon Kim who performed “Defying Gravity” from the musical Wicked was awarded with the grand prize, followed by GiHanYeonJang (Deadline Extension) and NoRangJamBa (Yellow Jacket) teams each winning the second and third prize, respectively. Following the student performances, singer LeeHi presented an amazing show, immersing the audience into her music. SUM, held on the last day, featured a stage from the top five teams selected by a pre-contest — CJDH, Infinite, KangJeok, CarpeDiem, and Ghutto's — followed by ELKA’s cheerleading. Many students came to cheer for the teams. Rappers Loco and Coogie from AOMG wrapped up the festival with thrill and excitement.
The festival was delayed one week from its original plan due to the Itaewon Crowd Crush and the location was also changed from the lawn in front of the Main Library (E9) to N3. Despite this change in schedule and location, students participated wholeheartedly, with an estimated 700 people visiting each day. Geonwoo Kim, the head of VOK, said, “I was initially worried because I never experienced face-to-face events on campus as of the class of ‘20 but I am very relieved that the event went on well as planned. I thank all the VOK members who have put in a lot of effort as well as all the students who participated and enjoyed the festival. We hope to prepare a better festival next year and we look forward to your keen interest.”