Funnel Cakes, Rides, and MAX: Mason Day 2025 Brings the Energy
By Tiffany Boggs, Student Media, Photo courtesy of Mitchell R
The scent of funnel cakes wafted through the air as students screamed with delight on spinning rides, and the beat of live music pulsed across George Mason University’s Fairfax Campus.
Mason Day is the longest-running tradition; this is an event that’s filled with a carnival of sights, sounds, and flavors, culminating in high-energy performances. It’s a special day to many and brings students together as one large community before the end of the year.
On Friday, April 25, Mason Day took place at Parking lots K and L, hosted by Student Involvement. The event is set every April before finals begin, and it’s a time for students to “let off some steam around the end of the year and enjoy live music, and be outside having a good time,” said Executive Director Lauren Long.
Mason Day included a wide array of activities, DIY, tie dye stands, and Midway Mania games. To name a few, 9-hole mini golf, friendship bracelet stamping, and coin toss case game. There were food trucks, epic rides, and performances by Mason students who opened for headliner artist and actor MAX. Over 4723 people attended, some students volunteered, and some w
ho attended for the first time shared what they enjoyed most.
Sophomore, Biruk Mengistu, who attended his first Mason Day shared that it was an interesting experience seeing all of George Mason come together. “I feel like I haven’t been able to see all of Mason’s 4,000 students in one place, which is kind of cool. You definitely run into a lot of people that you know, a lot of people from classes. A lot of people from the area, co-workers, family, and friends,” he said.
Most students expressed what Mason Day meant to them. For Sophomore Yohanna Hawaz, it means unity. “Mason Day gives me the opportunity to sit back, relax, and see the school do something entertaining and enjoyable for all students,” she said.
Senior Scott Tatum expressed his appreciation for George Mason having an event he feels is like a reward for all the hard work he’s done. “It’s been like a massive community event the entire time. It’s basically the combination of all the hard work we do all year, we’re able to just let loose and have a great time. It’s like the university is saying here is your reward for ma
king it through the year, you spend your time doing games, getting food, doing any number of activities, and listening to good music,” he said.
Juniors Trinity Webber and Hannah Johnson described their favorite part of Mason Day as riding the cliff hanger, the fried Oreos, and the caricature of MAX’s performance. “It was very fun and exciting. MAX is a great performer and got the crowd hype, and the caricature was really nice to get and funny to look at,” said Webber.
According to Long, around 200 volunteers between students and staff, helped make Mason Day happen. She said the event took three days to set up adding the extra activities and increasing the food trucks to reflect the diversity of the school. “This takes a village to lift this,” Long said. Many University Life departments were involved, including Housing and Residential Life and University Career Services. She commented on how intense planning an event like Mason Day is, but it’s one of her favorites, and it’s worth seeing her entire staff, students, and volunteers coming together to celebrate the event.
Long had this to say about what Mason Day is all about. “Our unit is about enhancing that student experience. It’s about involvement and engagement and creating a sense of belonging, and it’s so exciting…standing back and looking, and seeing the smiles on students' faces,” she said.
Students Webber and Johnson said they would attend Mason Day next year. “Honestly, yeah, it was cool and they had a lot more pop-ups [activities at Mason Day included mini-golf, laser tag, and gaming truck for e-sports fans] if I were to go again, I would go just for the pop-ups”, said Johnson.
We look forward to Mason Day 2026 and hope we can make more memories with our students next year!