The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Raisin spirits:
St Andrews comes to a standstill as students have fun at foam party
St Andrews students celebrate the end of Raisin Weekend the only way they know how ... with a foam party.
St Andrews students celebrated the end of the annual Raisin Weekend in the now traditional way – with a massive foam party.
The event saw thousands make the pilgrimage to Lower College Lawn dressed as an array of quirky characters, from Where’s Wally to Pegasus.
The town came to standstill as first year students, directed by their mentors or ‘academic parents’, walked through the streets singing, laughing and joking while loading up on cans of shaving foam.
The good-natured event culminated in a free-for-all in a cordoned off pit at the square at the back of Lower College Hall, where spectators watched the students run amok while spraying each other with foam.
Physics first year David Brown, 18, from Kilmarnock, said the event remains as popular as ever.
“This is one of the biggest days for freshers and St Andrews is one of the only universities that has this mentoring system,” he said.
“The older students get their academic children to dress up as specific characters so it’s really fun.
“We also have the May Dip where we plunge into the sea which will be interesting.”
Costumes ranged from the political, with placards opposing Brexit, to the bizarre, with one featuring a line of empty Tennents Lager cans creatively taped together.
Nia, an 18-year-old first year French and Spanish student dressed as Where’s Wally, said she reluctantly donned the outfit with her friends.
She said: “We wouldn’t have chosen to dress like this but we’ll get the younger students back once we’re no longer the freshers. “It’s all good fun though.” Will, an 18-year-old computer science student from London, said he was delighted to be involved.
“I was obviously told to come down and what to wear and things,” he said.
“But I honestly would have joined in anyway.”
The fun was also given a surreal soundtrack as the university choir gathered to sing hymns to the foam-covered revellers as they left the lawn.