Palo Alto High School students are getting ready to shake their tail feathers–formal tail feathers, that is– at this year’s annual homecoming dance. The dance will take place from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Saturday Oct. 26 in the Small Gym.

The dance will follow Paly’s annual Spirit Week. Students are expected to wear formal attire, according to Student Activities Director Matt Hall.

“By formal we don’t mean tuxes or gowns, we’re just talking dress up nice,” Hall said. “Ties, collared shirts for the guys, maybe dresses for the girls, short to mid-length.”

The Associated Student Body is deciding whether future dances for the 2013- 2014 school year will exist according to how this homecoming dance goes.

“It’s been discussed for many years, but now it’s gone over the top,” junior ASB spirit commissioner Maya Ben-Efraim said.

ASB is working hard to make this dance a great experience for everyone, according to Ben-Efraim.

“We have a more passionate ASB and we are working to make everything bigger and better,” Ben-Efraim said.

ASB has come up with some new ideas to get more students to be active in homecoming this year. One new idea was to have the “best ask” competition, in which the person who asks their date in the most creative way and gets the most online votes wins a $50 gift card.

Another way ASB has made this dance more appealing to students is by having CREAM, an ice cream sandwich shop from downtown Palo Alto, cater the event, according to Hall.

“Last year we almost were at about 500 and we’re hoping to equal if not beat that number,” Hall said.

While ASB is putting in a lot of work for the event to be as fun as possible, it is also up to the student body to bring the numbers needed to have a good time, according to Ben-Efraim.