Each winter at Bates, the community comes together not despite the winter but in celebration of all that it enables. In an events-packed week for Winter Carnival, students gather together in our cozy coffee shop, an energized Alumni Gym, and across campus with nordic ski races, cold plunges, and warm bonfires. Traditions like these capture the best of Bates — community forged in fun and friendship.
The Winter Carnival A Cappella Concert filled Gomes Chapel with layered harmonies and a crowd of students and faculty. The concert, which remains one of the most anticipated traditions of Carnival, featured the Deansmen (pictured here), the Manic Optimists, the Merimanders, Take Note, and the Crosstones.
The BMU–BOC Winter Jam delivered a chill and cozy night of live performance against a backdrop of nature videos of Maine. Students filled The Ronj coffee shop to support friends and classmates playing covers, original songs, and reading spoken word poetry.
The Bates Village Club Series Student Showcase brought together student performers and creators for an evening of original work, collaboration, and community with their battle of the bands. Student bands Call Doug, Bored Walk, and The Roaches delivered high-energy sets that highlighted the diversity, creativity, and live music talent across campus.
Seen from above, Lake Andrews is ready to receive its annual horde of jumpers. The ice has been cut, the carpets have been laid for ease on and off the ice, and, to the far right, the bonfire awaits the delivery of the torch, lit at the State House in Augusta in the morning and literally run to campus. All this scene needs is a line of students in crazy costumes, and they are on the way.
Slowly, they jumped. Quickly, they emerged. Watch a video of this year's Puddle Jump by Multimedia Producer Theophil Syslo.
Sammy Weidenthal ’27 of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, works as a student photographer for the Bates Communications and Marketing office. He was assigned to photograph the Puddle Jump for the second year in a row. This year, he also jumped.
“As the event unfolded, singular in the way only Bates traditions can be, I found myself debating whether to jump. I set my camera aside, still wearing my Carhartt overalls and L.L.Bean boots, and went for it. In that moment, hesitation turned into action; it clicked. Some experiences do not need a perfectly articulated reason; they are choices you make because they invite risk, because they ask you to show up, and because they place you inside the collective story of a community. Jumping was not just about the ice; it was about saying yes to being part of something legendary, something I know I will look back on as a moment when I chose connection over comfort.”
After the Puddle Jump, Alumni Gymnasium was packed to support Bates women’s basketball as they powered past Trinity 69–49, with 17 points from senior captain Elsa Daulerio of Auburn, Maine. Junior Sarah Hughes of Rumson, N.J., added a standout performance, opening with a 10-point effort and earning the second NESCAC Player of the Week award of her college career.
© 2026 Bates College