On Aug. 17, the Starlight Celebration and Firework Festival was slated to take place. Slips of paper were handed out weeks beforehand to students advertising the event. However, at 5:07 p.m. the day of the event, an email from the Department of Strategic Communications & Marketing was sent out to all students advising them that the event had been canceled due to a severe thunderstorm watch in Hall County.
Clark Leonard, University of North Georgia Director of News and Communication, issued an official statement from the university delving further into the cancellation: “…inclement weather knocked out power on UNG’s Gainesville Campus for multiple hours.”
Also, in the original statement sent out on the night of the event, Strategic Communications made sure to include that there would be no make-up date for the event. When asked about why this was the case, Leonard said “We stopped having a make-up date several years ago because of cost.”
“It costs more to have vendors hold two dates, and it also requires faculty and staff volunteers to hold two dates” – Clark Leonard, UNG Director of News and Communication
Students voiced their frustrations with having such a heavily advertised event canceled on short notice. Madeline Blanchard, junior art major said, “As a junior, I couldn’t make it to the last two events. I had already left Dahlonega by the time the cancellation was announced, which was pretty inconvenient.”
Some students presented concerns regarding how a large event like this being canceled could affect student engagement. Easton Sosebee, sophomore English education major said, “it could add some worries to students as far as not seeing some familiar faces on campus.”
Sosebee also stated that this cancellation could potentially bring students together by starting conversations venting their frustrations. “For example, if some students were talking about the cancellation of Starlight and they were like, ‘oh yeah, we were gonna go,’ it could naturally start a conversation leading to a possible new friendship.”
With the absence of this event being felt throughout the community, organizers are already planning the next one. The 2025 Starlight Celebration is slated for Saturday, Aug. 16 with hopes that the weather stays favorable.
