S.L. FULLER
Assistant News Editor
The main emphasis on Fred Fest this year has been trying to get the event back to its roots of a peaceful celebration of spring and away from the downtown night scene. Many people made suggestions on how the university should go about doing this and administration has been listening.
Fred Fest is now back to being held on both Friday and Saturday. Fred Fest was cut down to only one day a few years ago because of the chaotic behavior that had been displayed during that weekend in the previous years. Administration was hoping that eliminating a day would also decrease the amount of guests who students would bring on campus and inhibit crazy behavior. This year, due in part to student suggestions, the university is holding events over two days.
“Dr. Herman came and talked to the RAs yesterday,” said Kyle Reimer, the Resident Director of Disney Hall. “He told us about the different programs that will be going on [during Fred Fest weekend]. He wants to make Fred Fest the safest event as possible.”
Events that will be taking place on Friday, May 2, are Fred Fest bingo with prizes and a late night breakfast at Cranston Marche from 10 p.m. until 1 a.m., sponsored by Residence Life and FSA. There will also be more events on Saturday including a dodgeball tournament hosted by intramurals that will run throughout the day with finals at 6 p.m. The Williams Center patio will also be open for dancing with a jazz band and a DJ from 6-10 p.m. followed by a screening of a movie if the weather allows. Campus Life is running a survey to see which movie students would like to see. Tim Hortons and the fitness center will also have extended hours.
“The campus calendar may not be listing these events yet, as we have to finalize the events registration and so on,” said Herman via email. “These event times and locations may change slightly depending on weather and the availability of spaces.”
Tickets for Spectrum’s main Fred Fest event are currently on sale, and the event is in its final stages of planning.
Last week, students were able to vote for the bands they wanted to hear at Fred Fest; those bands have also been finalized. Hearts Like Riots, Sweet Apollo, Marcello, and Lady Lush and the Vinyls will each be playing a 45-minute
set. Lady Lush and the Vinyls is a band made up of recent Fredonia graduates.
Spectrum also intends to implement strategies to combat the long entry line for the main event.
“We’re going to have three different groups for the lines: it’s going to be students with guests, just students with a bag and students without a bag,” said junior biology major and president of Spectrum Ali Drake. “We hope that it can help separate people and keep [the line] moving.”
There will also be people handing out bracelets for the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que ticket holders standing in line, and the food will be served right at 2 p.m. to try to cut down on queue time.
During Fred Fest, people will be able to enjoy the carnival-style activities that were there last year. However, there will be another caricature artist, a photo booth and different bounce houses to choose from.
“I know there’s a large population of residents and students in general that don’t drink or that just go home for the weekend because they don’t want to deal with it,” said Reimer. “So I think giving them entertainment options [on campus] is fair.”
“I don’t think Fred Fest will get any worse than it’s ever been,” Reimer said in regards to improving the situation downtown. “I think it can only get better.”