Fans of Binghamton University’s Spring Fling can look forward to a winter festival in the Old University Union this Sunday in the form of the first annual Frost Fest.

Based on the celebrations of other nearby schools, Frost Fest will provide a variety of winter-themed events and activities for students to participate in.

“Other schools in upstate New York and New England have winter festivals … we figured we should have one too,” said Sara Parrish, a junior accounting and marketing major and Student Association Programming Board festival chair. “The theme is winter. We tried to keep it simple because it’s the first time doing it.”

According to Aaron Cohn, SA vice president for programming, after going over the SAPB budget, the board found that by cutting unnecessary spending, which he declined to elaborate on, it would be able to plan a large event for the fall semester like it has for the spring.

“We wanted to give students a lot more for their activity fee,” Cohn said. “[By] cutting unnecessary spending, we were [able to] spend $14,000 on the event.”

The festival will offer students everything from free food to massages to ice sculpting.

There will even be a large synthetic ice skating rink in the Old University Union.

According to Cohn, the rink is the main attraction and will be made out of a cutting board material that some ice hockey players used to practice on.

According to Parrish, Downtown restaurants will provide free food for students as part of a “taste of the town.” The participating restaurants include Escape State Street and Lupos.

“The thing I’m most excited for [is] … the taste of the town,” Cohn said. “They’re some good, local favorites.”

Parrish added that there will also be a Build-A-Bear Workshop booth with customizable Binghamton T-shirts for the bears, as well as numerous local stores selling their products.

In addition to the other activities, a number of student groups will be tabling at the event, which will run from 3 to 7 p.m.

At 7:15 p.m., a free concert will follow the activities. Jason Anderson, an acoustic guitarist, will open for the band Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin.

“They’ve gotten amazing ratings … their album has gotten tremendous reviews,” Cohn said. “We’re hoping to pack out the place.”

Cohn said that he believes Frost Fest will be a successful end to the fall semester.

“It’ll be a really nice study break for students. Everyone who comes is going to find something [they’ll enjoy],” he said.