UNE head chef Chris Foldi reveals that in the past five-and-a-half years he’s worked on graduation days, “the kitchen has had ‘Sandstorm’ by Darude on repeat for 10+ hours”.

“This may seem unbearable to some but has gracefully found its way to becoming a tradition to push through the day.”  

Chris works to create the delectable assortment of food that can be found at these signature events. On the day, he’ll produce food for the barbecue lunch buffet, the evening grazing menu at Booloominbah, the food from the Coffee Cart, the three-course lunch at Booloominbah and the grab-and-go options available before the ceremonies.  

In the lead up to the events, he’s responsible for designing the menus, ordering the stock, organising a pop-up kitchen, designating different teams to different stations, and ensuring all graduates, guests and staff are “well-fed” during the event. 

“Something that I personally love about graduation is the atmosphere and buzz that explodes on campus over the weekend,” he says.  

“The loud cheering, the flocks of colour mixed with waves of black as graduates swarm down to the lawns, and the diversity of peoples that we get to experience on the day cannot be expressed in words and is a need-to-experience feeling.”