Close to a hundred students thronged the baseball diamond on the foot of Foss Hill Thursday night, congregating around the low-set bonfire basins near the stage and around a much larger ring of fire where Prometheus was performing. Bandfire, an event put together by the WSA’s Community Outreach and External Affairs Committee (COEAC), was a cheery night of live music (featuring Wesleyan’s Thelonious Funk, Fly Machine, and DJ Bastille), hot chocolate, and community.

Prometheus’ fire spinners were a huge draw for the crowd, including both older and novice spinners and (unusually) freestyle spinning, often in time with the music. This was a class act, in keeping with Prometheus’ reputation, and at any one time at least half the audience was watching the performance from outside the ring of torches the group had set up.

The rest of the students seemed drawn mostly to the music and free food. Many huddled around bonfires to warm their chilled hands and faces, clutching mugs of hot chocolate or, occasionally, cool bottles of beer.

“S’mores were a definite highlight,” said Emily Hunt ’13. “And the hot drinks.”

Others were there more for the entertainment.

“I think fire and music’s always a good thing,”  said Elizabeth Simon ’12.

As the smoke from the bonfires and Prometheus’ torches billowed into the clear night air, students drifted in and out of the event. Often they came in shivering and curious but they left warmed, cheerful, and entertained.