The community of UNC Asheville gathered on Oct. 17 to celebrate the turning of the maples. The event served as an introduction to fall and featured live music, food and activities for students to partake in.

“This is the first time that I’ve made it to the Turning of the Maples. This is the biggest event I’ve been to this year,” said UNCA junior MJ Smithson.

Many student and campus organizations showcased their groups by tabling at the event. Smithson said they were introduced to many groups on campus they did not know about from the turning of the maples.

“I liked the multicultural affairs office’s table. I feel like I haven’t heard a lot about them, but they do a lot of really good stuff, like the Hyannis House. I’m a WGSS major and I didn’t even know the WGSS department was going to be having the Hyannis House open house,” said Smithson.

Student turnout for the event increased since the previous year, according to associate director for programming for Highsmith Anna Claire Jackson.

“We ran out of cider quicker this year. I would say we’ve had about 800 people on the quad today,” Jackson said.