Mai-Fete Island
Quite a popular outdoor spot on campus, Mai Fete’s string-lit trees and fire pit make it the perfect place for social gatherings. The island earned its moniker for hosting the annual Mai Fete pageant put on by the women of Carleton each spring beginning in the early 20th century. Each year’s pageant had a particular theme or setting and featured elaborate costumed performances, glee club and orchestra concerts, and the crowning of a “Mai Fete Queen” chosen by the female student body. The event reached its peak in the 1920s and ’30s, when thousands of spectators would watch from the banks of Lyman Lakes each year. Student enthusiasm for Mai Fete began to wane (as did its strictly gendered proceedings) in the 1950s, and it was discontinued after the 1963 performance to make way for a weekend arts festival that eventually became a night of performances by student bands. That tradition then transformed into today’s Spring Concert, Carleton’s annual outdoor music festival behind the Rec featuring professional performers alongside student bands and DJs!