Ticket sales were off to a slow start for this year’s Winter Formal, which will be held at Dave & Buster’s, an arcade venue inside of the Great Mall in Milpitas, on Dec. 2 from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. 

The theme will be “A Night in Vegas,” since the dance commissioners thought the arcade games resembled casino slot machines. 

During the first week of ticket sales from Oct. 30 to Nov. 3, tickets were priced at $84 for students with ASB and $114 for students without ASB. The dance commission sold tickets for three weeks, with ticket prices increasing by $10 each week. Nov. 17 was the last day to purchase tickets. 

Dance commissioner junior Emily Rich said she believes the tickets were priced reasonably because the cost covers food, arcade games and admission into the event itself. 

However, as of Nov. 15, only around 300 tickets had been sold. This is a drastic decrease compared to the 674 ticket sales for last year’s formal held at Great America. Rich believes that this is due to the choice of venue, as some students may feel that an arcade is too casual for a formal dance.

According to Rich, Dave & Buster’s was selected as the venue following a recommendation from assistant principal and activities director Kristen Cunningham. The venue will be semi-private as the arcade section of the Dave & Buster’s will be open to the public but the school has reserved private rooms for dancing, seating and pool tables. 

However, considering students’ tendency to procrastinate, Rich thinks more will purchase at the last minute.

“I feel like there’s a bad stigma around Dave and Buster’s,” Rich said. “I was kind of iffy on it too when Ms. Cunningham suggested it, but once I went, it seemed fun.”