On Nov. 14 at the Fishbowl in front of Scott Hall, the 2025 Fall Festival was held at the University of New Hampshire. The Fall Festival, a fundraising event for the American Cancer Society, is organized by the UNH American Cancer Society in collaboration with fellow partners UNH Fashion, Local Mojo, and local rising star bands The Form and False Portrait.
This fundraiser helps the Society in the fall lead up to their big, popular event in the spring, which is the Relay for Life. The Relay for Life event is held during the spring for the same purpose as the Fall Festival. The Festival itself was made possible with the help of hands, donations, student activity fees, and the help of fellow collaborators, and of course, the UNH American Cancer Society itself.
The UNH American Cancer Society is a prolific organization. Their mission statement, as found on their Instagram, reads: “Saving lives, celebrating lives, and leading the fight to a world without cancer. Join our Relay!” A powerful statement that was seen throughout the festival. Olivia Martin, the VP of the American Cancer Society, explained the goal of the event.
While evidently the goal was to raise money for the society to help people fight cancer, another goal was to offer an opportunity for club collaboration. Speaking to their progress, a few from the audience were planning on donating or had already donated. The event had a great turnout with over 40 people in attendance within the first hour. Baked goods were being sold by the American Cancer Society, like caramel chocolate rice crispies, chocolate donuts, pies, and even hot chocolate.
The thrift clothes being sold by UNH Fashion had gained a lot of attention from the audience. All money collected went straight to the American Cancer Society. People had assembled around the band playing, and a few students had gathered around to play Jenga.
The Fashion Club had worked with the American Cancer Society before for their spring event, Relay for Life. The American Cancer Society had expressed interest in wanting to collaborate for some time during the fall, and with the Fall Festival, they were able to bring that to fruition.
The pop-up thrift store the club was running had caught a lot of people's attention. People who heard about the event all the way back in September had also heard about the clothing sale and wanted to come solely for the clothes. One student claimed that what he found most interesting and caught his interest was the thrifts, while others claimed the lively music being played was their favorite.
Responsible for such music, Local Mojo, a business outside the university, was involved as one of the collaborators for the festival. Local Mojo is a business that has worked with 20 other colleges, allowing music to be present through Friday night concerts and spring festivals.
Local Mojo is a well-known organization with a mission to give audiences the best experience from the local scene, where the concerts are personal, authentic, and intimate. The business is used as an outlet for local bands, such as the bands for tonight, to get public attention.
One of the featured bands was The Form, which consists mostly of alumni and UNH students, who have been performing around New England and who recently released an album on Spotify. Aden Carter, lead guitarist in The Form, explained that because the band was comprised of former UNH students, they had always wanted to perform on the campus and in the fishbowl. Doing so, especially for a good cause, made it even more rewarding.
The next band, False Portrait, has a smaller amount of experience in music vendors. Thankfully, the band was given a great opportunity to play at the festival and show off their talent.
Ryan Canvenar, who is the lead guitarist and one of the singers, explained that the band “Always wanted to play outside and for a cause like this.” Canvenar expressed his excitement to be playing in the event and playing alongside The Form.
The two bands expressed that they may be different bands, but the two were going to be playing as Carter put it, “From the soul,” while “having as much fun as possible.” Many audience members expressed that the music was their favorite part of the festival.
The 2025 Fall Festival was a success, achieving its goal of raising money to fight cancer and to bring people together. The members of the UNH American Cancer Society, UNH Fashion Club, Local Mojo, The Form, and False Portrait are proud of what they accomplished together. And if you perchance missed the Fall Festival this year, and you're coming back next year, then the Fall Festival shall return for another go.
