Singing, dancing, a HUGE bon fire and orange and black as far as the eye can see – it can only mean one thing – it’s Snake Dance! If this is your first year at Ridley you are probably wondering what this event is all about. Snake Dance is a Ridley tradition that has been around since the 1940s! Students dress in school colours and sing school songs around a huge bon fire on campus! It’s a lot of fun and a great way to show school spirit, but you still might have some questions….so I enlisted the help of a few students to come up with some tips for Snake Dance:

1. Paint alone is not enough, even if it seems like it covers everything… a shirt and some pants are a necessity.
2. Get into the spirit of things – wear as much orange and black as possible and be creative with your outfit!!
3. Stock up on tea and honey for the day after…or say goodbye to your voice right now.
4. Make sure to shower right after snake dance ends. Or you will be the one person on Monday morning with a tiger paint paw on your cheek.
5. Don’t wear shoes or your school tie to snake dance. You might not recognize them after.
6. Even though it’s called snake dance, there are no snakes involved. Only some Ridley tigers….
7. Stay behind the rope – unless you want this night of fun to be your last for awhile.
8. Bring a waterproof camera and take lots of pictures.
9. Have fun – Snake Dance is a memorable event at Ridley and participating makes you a true Ridleian.
10. If you come back sweaty, wet and paint even in your mouth, then you did everything right.