Academy--39-s Secret School Festival -r...: -eng- Ariel

You might hear the sound of children laughing like adults, and adults dancing like children.

By J. Corvine

The Secret School Festival begins at 10:00 PM, when the last security guard finishes his donut and falls asleep in the boiler room (a tradition upheld by a generous bribe of homemade shortbread). Students who have spent weeks carving hidden lanterns from pumpkins (imported from a farm three towns over) light the path to the old conservatory. The festival has no faculty supervision. That is the first rule. The second rule is that everyone must wear a mask, but not a store-bought one. Ariel Academy students spend their spring constructing masks from deconstructed textbooks, sheet music, and broken lab equipment. -ENG- Ariel Academy--39-s Secret School Festival -R...

For eleven months out of the year, Ariel Academy functions as one of the most prestigious—and notoriously strict—preparatory schools on the eastern seaboard. Polished brass railings, hushed libraries, and a uniform code that dictates the angle of one’s blazer buttons. Yet, according to a whisper network of alumni and a recently leaked student diary, there is one night when the gothic gates swing open to chaos, creativity, and the color red. You might hear the sound of children laughing

“The festival began as a gift to the lonely genius. It has become a hierarchy. This year, we leave the gates open. Let the town come. Let the parents see. Let the masks fall.” Students who have spent weeks carving hidden lanterns

But those in the know —a self-selecting group of upperclassmen chosen by the outgoing senior class—know the truth. The retreat is a decoy.