As of Feb. 25 at 9:30 a.m., the King of Hearts replacement event, LionFest, was cancelled. Director of Student Activities Peter Geddeis, Principal Dr. Brian Waterman and Director of Athletics John Grundke met for an early meeting and decided to cancel the event entirely.

This cancellation was due to the small number of students who bought tickets for LionFest and also the need to conserve financial resources. As of Feb. 24, 35 students out of the whole student body had purchased tickets.

“I knew late last week that ticket sales were not going well, so I proactively contacted our vendors to see what the financial ramifications would be if we were to cancel the event and how quickly they needed to know,” Geddeis said. “Thankfully, they were all very understanding and worked with us to minimize the financial hit that student council would take. While LionFest will still lose money, student council will save approximately $10,000 by canceling now.”

Geddeis also mentions how student council unanimously recommended to cancel the event as a whole. Although student council is very disappointed by this outcome, they are also looking forward to other future fundraisers. For example, there is a potential LT vs. Hinsdale Central Olympics where students could be involved in rallying around the school and showing good sportsmanship. This event could also bring in profit for student council to make up for the money they lost by canceling LionFest.

“What most students don’t realize is that student council is a club like any other, and it does not receive any financial support from the school to plan events like Homecoming, the All-School Assembly or KOH/LionFest,” Geddeis said. “I hope that this experience will serve to drive that message home.”