Press "Enter" to skip to content

OC to host Oklahoma’s largest cinnamon festival

When junior Seth Parker was given the challenge to build community through events as part of his job as a Heritage Heights Phase VI CMA, he decided to combine his favorite television show with his love of food festivals. Thanks to Parker, Oklahoma Christian University students can attend Oklahoma’s largest and Oklahoma Christian’s first annual cinnamon festival tonight at 6 p.m. under the Pavilion.

“I wanted students to have access to foods they couldn’t easily make in their dorms,” Parker said. “I take two main points of inspiration for this—there’s the Dual Spires episode of ‘Psych’ where they have a cinnamon festival and then there’s the Porter Peach Festival, which is my favorite food festival I have been to. I drew from those two events to help fulfill my duties as a CMA.”

With help from vendors such as the Brew, Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, Schlotzsky’s and Taco Bell, along with the SGA and Resident Life, students will have access to free coffee, donuts, cinnamon twists, apple pies, baked churros, peanut butter pie and cinnamon toast. Gluten-free and vegan options will also be available.

“I love cinnamon and honestly, I just want to see everyone come together, despite how cold it will probably be,” Parker said. “It is a great opportunity to bring friends and even family who don’t go to OC. The main reason I chose this time was because it is the weekend before Thanksgiving Break, so it will be nice to get some home-cooked food to tide everyone over until the beginning of the break next week.”

As this is Parker’s first event to plan, he said he sought help from various individuals, including Resident Director Seth Jones and Assistant Director of Residence Life John Ortiz.

“They’ve been behind me 100 percent, just letting me take charge and organize the event,” Parker said. “No one has been creating any additional roadblocks and everyone has been really helpful. I have been really grateful for that.”

The cinnamon festival will also feature live music from sophomores Jesse Garner and JD Martin. According to Parker, Jones thought a musical component would help add to the atmosphere of the event and even helped Parker line up the musicians.

“Jesse is a good friend and resident in Phase VI, so I reached out to him first and he was pumped to be a part of the cinnamon festival,” Jones said. “Both of these guys have performed at the Brew, a private going-away party for Kirby [Killen] and I believe in a couple of other settings. They’re super talented dudes and worth dropping what you’re doing to listen to them.”

The cinnamon festival will last from 6-9 p.m. under the Pavilion. It is free and open to everyone.

Email this to someonePrint this pageShare on Facebook0Tweet about this on TwitterShare on LinkedIn0

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *