Today, Notre Dame Food Services and student government will bring back the "Circus Lunch," a famed dining hall special event of the 1980s and 1990s.
During lunch in both North Dining Hall and South Dining Hall, students will find various circus-themed food and decorations.
The event was coordinated by the Circus Lunch Committee of student government's Department of Constituent Services.
Sophomore Mary Tomasik, head of the Circus Lunch Committee, and sophomore Heather Eaton, director of Constituent Services, helped coordinate the event.
"We thought it would be a fun event for students, especially during midterms," Eaton said. "I love cotton candy just as much as the next person."
Constituent Services went forward with the idea to hold a circus lunch after an administrator from the Student Activities Office (SAO) helped convince them to bring back the traditional event.
Basic circus foods like hot dogs, cotton candy, cracker jacks and popcorn will be served in both dining halls. North Dining Hall will also have snow cones and elephant ears.
The Circus Lunch was one of the most popular dining hall special events of the 1980s and 1990s, Eaton said, because back then the dining hall did not serve the large variety of food that it does today.
"Circus lunch was a way to give variety," she said.
When the dining halls added more foods to the menu in subsequent years, the circus lunch was no longer necessary and occurred less often, she said.
The circus lunch will not interfere with the regular lunch menu and will last for the regular lunch period — 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Circus Lunch Committee decorated both dining halls Wednesday night. Along with food, there will also be balloon animals, face paint and circus-themed temporary tattoos. Lollipops will be provided next to the mints at the exits.
Eaton said the Circus Lunch Committee met with dining hall managers and they agreed to assist with the event. If the feedback is positive, Eaton said student government hopes to hold more circus lunches in the future.
"We've put in the work to make sure that it could be a yearly event," she said.
