Late Night, a substance-free event held after prom, is a recurring tradition in Wayland. However, this year Wayland will be hosting two Late Night events instead of one for the first time. This change is because the Class of 2023 delayed its prom until this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The senior and junior Late Nights will follow their proms on May 6 and May 13 respectively. While there are going to be two Late Nights, the vendors and activities will remain mostly the same as during previous years.

“The gym is going to be transformed for late night,” junior class Late Night co-chair Jen Medeiros said. “We have a ton of games, music, a gaming truck and photo booth. [The WHS field house] is just going to be jam-packed with activities this year.”

Since Late Night is funded by community donations, the food comes from local businesses. In order to prevent any overlap in their requests, the junior and senior Late Night organizers worked together to split up their food donations between the two nights.

“One thing that changed a lot this year because of the two proms is that both organizers got together and approached the businesses as a team,” junior class Late Night treasurer Elizabeth Shine said. “They made the decision to work together and to not have the Class of 2024 going to the same businesses as the Class of 2023.”

The event organizers also decided to make the senior class Late Night more subdued than the junior class late night. According to senior class Late Night co-chair Sharon Desmond, they made this decision because Late Night is traditionally a junior class event. The Class of 2023 Late Night coordinators wanted to be cautious of the financial commitment that organizing two events would cause.

“The only thing that is a little different is the monetary budget,” Desmond said. “The seniors have a lot of senior events, with the cruise, awards night and graduation all within a month of each other. We felt that [giving the junior class the larger budget] was a nice balance to allow both classes to have what they need.”

According to Shine and Medeiros, fundraising is the most challenging aspect of planning Late Night.

“In spite of putting late night out there in the newsletters and making people aware, I think it’s hard to plan a big event when you’re not sure how the fundraising is going to go,” Shine said. “Usually people start making donations on the website once students start buying prom tickets.”

According to Medeiros, the Late Night process is a long one. The committee started planning six months before the event. Medeiros wants the event to turn out well, as she feels that the meaning behind Late Night is important.

“As parents, we feel that it’s really important to give students a place to go after the prom to make sure that they’re safe on prom night,” Medeiros said. “Sometimes students can have bad judgment, so giving them an opportunity to go to a fun event after prom just continues the joy of the night and makes sure that they’re safe and happy.”

Late night is a substance-free zone that is meant for students to continue enjoying themselves after prom. It is an open invitation for all prom attendees, as long as they register beforehand.

“Traditionally this event allows our upperclassmen to be adults by going to prom, getting dressed up and having a really good time, and then coming back to the Field House, putting on their comfortable clothes and playing around like they’re kids,” Desmond said. “It’s a really nice blend between childhood and adulthood.”