By Adam Justice
Cavalier Daily Life Editor
The streets of Charlottesville usually grow quiet during the summer months after students pack their bags to head off to the beach or take on that lucrative internship.
But one weekend out of every summer all that changes and the town once again is bustling with students.
Midsummers - being celebrated this weekend - marks both a break between the two summer sessions and the midpoint of the summer.
It seemingly is a hallowed University tradition and students flock to Charlottesville in droves to celebrate it.
Yet few appear to know just how Midsummers got started or even what it is they're celebrating.
"I think it had a lot more history, but now it's just an excuse to come back," Inter-Fraternity Council President Phil Trout said. Students "know people will be around."
The tradition appears to be enshrined in University lore, but Politics Prof. Larry J. Sabato, who was a student at the University from 1970-1974, recalled that Midsummers was not that important of an event.
"I spent two summers in Charlottesville as a student, and I simply remember Midsummers as a pale shadow of the academic year's big weekends," Sabato said. "Yes, some drove into Charlottesville for the weekend, but not enough to approximate the hoopla of the school year."
Even though Midsummers' appeal may hinge more on the perception of it as a sanctified tradition than anything it actually represented in the past, the event offers a chance for students to get together.
"It's just a mass exodus back to Charlottesville. I think it's just a lot of people barbecuing," Student Council President Micah Shwartz said.
While barbecuing, parties and bar hopping usually are the main attractions, some students are doing something a little different.
Sigma Alpha Mu President Gary Dunn said his fraternity isn't even staying in Charlottesville.
"We're going to Busch Gardens to celebrate," Dunn said.
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