Coffeehouse draws crowd: More than 8,000 people attend annual event showcasing student talent

Student Activities’ annual Christmas Coffeehouse brought holiday joy to students in the Vines Center on Saturday evening.

This year’s Coffeehouse theme was “Snowed In,” and the hosts, Jared Alpert and Ty Justice, invited attendees to imagine that Liberty’s campus had been snowed in and told entertaining jokes between acts throughout the night. The stage was set with a snowy cabin in the background, and fake snow drifted onto the crowd sitting at the tables on the floor of the arena.

Cort Comfort, the director of Student Activities, oversees more than one event bringing holiday cheer.

“Christmas in Lights is a great event to welcome in the holiday season, but nothing is as monumental or full of Christmas cheer as Christmas Coffeehouse,” Comfort said. “The theme of Christmas Coffeehouse is ‘Snowed In,’ and with the cold season ahead of us, we want to take a moment and highlight all of the fun and joy that comes with a snow day. On these days we drink hot cocoa, go sledding, shovel the driveway, build a snowman or sit by the fire. … It is a magical thing, and the show is dedicated to that exact feeling.”

 

Student bands such as Pololo, Banana Royales and Quinten’s Christmas Quintet took the stage, and focused on the Christmas season and the concept of being stuck inside dorms during a blizzard. The bands incorporated modern twists on classic Christmas songs and combined the work of talented musicians with over-the-top light displays to create an incredible Christmas spectacular. Alongside the musical performances, there were a few acts that showcased dancing, such as an instrumental ballet piece and a dance number performed by D-TREX to a hip-hop Christmas medley.

Between several of the acts, there were student-created videos that played, offering satirical comedy similar to the storyline in The Office, celebrating summer in December and other funny topics.

Comfort described the student-led nature of the event.

“Coffeehouse has always been completely student-driven. From the videos to the hosts and the performers, nearly everyone is a current Liberty University student,” Comfort said. “No other school has an event as large or culturally significant to the student body. In a 2-hour-long, energy-fueled Christmas show, our students show how deep their love is for Christmas and the importance of the yuletide season.”

Alpert and Justice started off the night by roasting each residential area of campus, as well as the popular majors like strategic communication and various clubs on campus, such as ROTC.

Towards the end of the event, the hosts invited audience members to the stage to participate in games with prizes like a Lululemon handbag or a plastic bin of live crickets. These games asked the audience to influence their blindfolded representative’s choice of prize by yelling and kept the environment lively throughout the event.

Ty Justice, the co-host, spoke about his experience getting to play the role of Christmas Coffeehouse host for the first time.

“Getting to host Coffeehouse was the most insane thing I’ve ever gotten to do,” Justice said. “God is so good to me to give me opportunities like this where I can try and entertain people to make his name known.”

Hanna Mowery, a sophomore, said her favorite parts of the event were spending time with friends and watching the creative comedic acts from students on campus.

“I’ve never been to Coffeehouse before, but I will be sure to go to the one in the spring. The hosts did an amazing job telling jokes and keeping the crowd engaged, and I could tell that they were having a fun time on stage,” Mowery said.

Another notable occurrence during the event was the announcement of the spring Coffeehouse theme. On March 23, 2024, Student Activities will host Coffeehouse: Animated, which will celebrate human emotion and the power that animation can have, according to the Student Activities website. Students are invited to gather their friends, create an act and head to tryouts this spring.

Tickets for the spring Coffeehouse went on sale during Christmas Coffeehouse on Saturday night. For more information about how to get tickets or to see details as they develop, visit this website.

Jarnigan is the asst. news editor for the Liberty Champion