A crowd gathers at the 2017 CHAOS dance. CHAOS won’t include a dance or True Trailblazer this year, but it will feature other socially distanced activities. Photo by Kylea Custer, former DSN staff member.
Dixie State University’s annual CHAOS event is still planned for Halloween night, but this year it won’t include its usual dance party due to COVID-19.
Devon “Dink” Rice, DSUSA’s social events director and a junior business marketing major from Bountiful, said the event will include a massive haunted house, scary movies, carnival games, pie eating contests, costume contests, giveaways, and more.
Rice said: “The biggest impact is that we can’t host a dance for CHAOS this year. The activities we have in place are going to provide an equal amount of fun and opportunity for students while maintaining a safe environment.”
DSU alumna Julie Handy said these new activities are more interesting than the dance.
“I wish they had done this when I was there instead of the dance,” Handy said.
Rice said lines will have 6-foot distancing signage, there will be sanitation stations all over, and there will be multiple check-in stations for the event to better track where each student is at any given time for contact tracing purposes. Masks are required in order for anyone to win prizes, compete in events or go through the haunted house, and extra masks will be provided. The event will also have a virtual component through Instagram.
“There will be thousands of dollars in giveaways at this event and every student is eligible to win, live or virtual,” Rice said. “We want to make all DSUSA events friendly to those who are high-risk or unable to attend by achieving a virtual aspect to this event through Instagram, so stay tuned on The Dixie Life’s story.”
“We want to make all DSUSA events friendly to those who are high-risk or unable to attend by achieving a virtual aspect to this event through Instagram, so stay tuned on The Dixie Life’s story.”
Devon “Dink” Rice, DSUSA’s social events director
CHAOS is free for students this year, though the price for the general public hasn’t been determined yet, and there will be no presale tickets as part of an effort to deter the public from attending and raising the risk of spreading COVID-19, Rice said. True Trailblazer, which is when students kiss in the fountain at midnight, won’t be part of CHAOS this year either.
“Naturally, we are avoiding [True Trailblazer] in its entirety this year,” Rice said.
Student Body President Penny Mills, a senior communication studies major from Orem, said she’s really excited about CHAOS this year.
“The thing I am most excited for during CHAOS this year is the haunted house,” Mills said. “I’ve seen the plans and site map for the event and it’s bigger and better than it’s ever been, not to mention [it’s] the safest Halloween event in southern Utah.”
CHAOS will take place at 9 p.m. on Oct. 31 through @thedixielife’s Instagram story and at the Burns Arena, Encampment Mall and surrounding areas. If any attendees are high-risk or just want to claim a spot in line, it’s recommended that they show up early.
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