by Alejandro Menendez and Jake Reed
Over 3,000 students made waves at Christopher Columbus High School’s annual Beach Bash, one of the biggest and most anticipated high school dances of the year with over 3,000 attendees.
Friday, August 23rd marked the end of the first full week of classes, as well as Beach Bash 2024. Beginning well before the doors opened at 7 pm, Columbus students and high school girls began gathering in the parking lot in anticipation.
“I came to Beach Bash because it's a tradition to go for your senior year, we all come in matching purple and just have a great time,” said Lucia Herran, senior at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy.
The annual tradition is only growing with the addition of ping pong tables, domino tables, and other activities in the L building. It served as one of the main areas for the party, featuring tons of outdoor seating, a concession stand, and a DJ.
If attendees weren’t satisfied with just the concession stand, over in the parking lot there were tons more options. There was no clear favorite, but judging by the crowds in front of the Kona Ice Snow Cone truck, it was a popular choice. Another great option was the lemonade stand. It had tons of flavors to choose from in huge cups that could last you the entire night.
“One song I want to hear tonight is definitely Fien by Travis Scott,” said Columbus freshman Adrian Perez.
Over in the gym, attendees found the main attraction of the night. Clublike lighting, special effects smoke going filling the air and tons of high schoolers jumping around all contributed to the gym’s dancefloor transformation. All eyes were on the DJ, who was tasked with keeping the audience alive from the point when the doors opened until people left at 11.
Nowadays, everyone has unique picks when it comes to music. Everyone hears songs like “Just Wanna Rock” by Lil Uzi Vert or “Rich Baby Daddy” by Drake Feat. Sexyy Red & SZA almost every single time. Everyone can benefit from letting the stereotypical “party” songs, which are widely known, have a break.
While rap and pop music both share the title as the most popular genres among high school students, there are genres just on the verge of being a part of the conversation. House music, a form of electronic dance music, has become extremely popular as well.
When asked about the house music that is frequently played at Beach Bash, Mrs. Mallafre said “I actually really enjoy house music. I hear it very frequently with the kids I teach and I think that it's a fun music genre, especially for Beach Bash.”
Another genre that has emerged is reggaeton. It could be described as a mix of Latin Pop and electronic music. Wide growth over the past few years can be attributed to the Miami culture having a devout love for Spanish music as a foundation for the Puerto Rican-originated genre.
Mr. Ortega, Columbus math teacher and longtime Beach Bash chaperone spoke about the memories made at the dance.
“In terms of memories from Beach Bash,” Mr. Ortega reminisced, “I think my craziest memory has to be when a huge crowd rushed out from the gym and pretty much trampled us.”
If the huge crowd in the gym was too much, then attendees would probably wind up in the cafeteria. It was much more spacious and even had VIP cabanas for girls. If attendees purchased the VIP package beforehand, they had full access to a cabana as well as 7 free drinks and 7 free meals.
Upon being asked about the cabanas and why they purchased the VIP package, a group of St Brendan freshmen said that it was a fair price due to the size of their group.
Columbus principal, Mr. Pugh, was proud of how far this event has come.
“I can still remember when Beach Bash was just running out of the cafeteria. It’s so great to see what it's developed into with all the food trucks, cabanas, and amenities that we’ve provided. I’m glad that the kids are having a great time," he said.
Beach Bash enjoyed another successful weekend - from the amenities to the dance floors. Columbus students are looking forward to next year’s iconic dance.
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