The idea for this event first originated during a November lunch conversation, when Blaine Smith '87 and her friends realized that they had a mutual interest in an Amherst Winter Carnival. "It's something I've wanted to do since freshman year. I'd heard a lot about the festival at Dartmouth and thought-why not Amherst?" Smith explained to The Student. She and the other chairpersons of the carnival committee worked "like fiends" from that moment on. They brought a rough outline of their planned activities to the student planning committee and received "an enthusiastic 'go-ahead.'" As Biddle stated, however, although verbal support was easy to get, it "initially took 'a lot of work' to get money for the carnival." They managed to receive funding, eventually, from the student planning committee, student allocations committee, the Dean of Students' Office and 23 of the 29 dorms. Smith showed appreciation to others who helped, saying, "People I don't even know have offered to help, and I think that's great."
Excited with the progress, the four organizers of the event saw the Winter Carnival as a "significant step forward for Amherst." As Biddle explained, "Frankly, I think there was a void after the frats were gone. We're trying to prove that a social life does exist at Amherst ... I think there's something here for everyone." Rhea Schaenman '87, another member of the planning commitee, commented on future carnivals, expressing her hope that the carnival would be made into an annual event.