Power of Puns: Carnival Sign Painting 

Dayna Even P ’24, Carnival Sign Painting Chair, Stephanie Frazier P ’24, Carnival Sign Painting Chair

Clever banners are hung and booths are just about ready for Carnival foot traffic. Months of behind-the-scenes prep work by the Carnival crews are almost finalized and ready to enjoy. 

Many of us assumed over the years that clever parents created the punny signs, enticing our Carnival goers to different food and activity booths. A bit of volunteering revealed that the Student Booth Chairs are the ones at the wheel expressing their creativity while Carnival Parent Chairs take the backseat. 

Parent Sign Painting Booth Chairs have straightforward tasks: order paint and supplies, facilitate setups and cleanups, and keep students moving forward. Roadside snacks and pumped up tunes in the music deck helped keep everyone’s energy up. 

On the other hand, Student Booth Chairs, with the assistance of the Sign Painting Student Chairs, were in charge of their own creative signage and promotional efforts. Beginning in the fall and up until Carnival, Sign Painting Parent and Student Booth Chairs hosted different groups of students on weekends to help them create backdrops and banners for their booths. Students wrote their own unique titles based on the booth’s product and this year’s theme, sketched the names and designs, and submitted this to their deans for approval. The students then laid out and transferred their designs onto larger banners and painted the final products.

Their graphic concepts became a reality. Our clever, artistic and industrious Student Booth Chairs created close to 60 signs to promote their different booths. 

The results are perfectly positioned marketing designs that grab the attention of Carnival go-ers. Over the years, these banners have made many of us smile, chuckle, and even laugh out loud while standing in line for gyros, malasadas, and a game of horseshoes.

This year, take a moment to look up and take note of their behind-the-scenes prep and creative handiwork. Listen as student chairs broadcast callouts to visit their booths, check out the signs posted around campus, and compliment them on their booth’s banners. Our students might not end up being sign makers, but they sure are learning about scheduling, collaborating, bringing their ideas to fruition, and of course, creating curb appeal.  

The Junior class of 2024 is on the right track and ready for the road ahead, including the production of a winning Carnival. Make sure these kids have a pit crew at the ready and please volunteer. Let’s cross the finish line together! 

For a complete list of all the Carnival booths, please visit our Carnival site.

In order for the students to succeed in a successful Carnival and financial aid fundraising event, the entire Punahou community must come together. Please consider volunteering to help drive their success. Before Carnival, please email: carnivalparentworker@pfa.punahou.edu. During Carnival, stop by the PFA Office in the Sullivan Administration Building and see the Parent Worker Committee.

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