As this week's warm weather has indicated, spring is in the air, and there's no better way to celebrate it than with the University Program Council's annual Springfest, held this Friday at the downtown nTelos Wireless Pavilion. A U.Va. tradition that reaches back years, Springfest offers a large free concert and other activities for students to enjoy. The 2011 Springfest, however, represents an intersection between tradition and innovation. For example, while the event is usually held on-Grounds, in locations such as Mad Bowl or the Amphitheater, this year marks Springfest's move off-Grounds to the Pavilion. "We went back and forth on the decision to move off-Grounds," said Armani Khoddami, director of the UPC PKG Concert committee. "But the Pavilion is a great location, and as a fourth year, I know that I wish I went downtown more often to enjoy the venues there. Also, we'll be providing shuttles back and forth between Grounds and the Downtown Mall."
This year's Springfest also is distinguished by the fact that it is held Friday afternoon and evening instead of during the day Saturday.
Despite these changes, many other Springfest classics will remain. Such traditions include the Vermonster eating contest - in which teams of contestants are challenged to eat 20 scoops of Ben and Jerry's ice cream - and the famous White Spot Gusburger eating contest.
"The idea for Springfest this year was to make it more concise, with different events offered continuously, so that there would be little lag time in between," Khoddami said. He added that in the past, student feedback suggested that Springfest could be revamped to be faster paced. "We wanted to offer activities of interest throughout the event, things to enjoy while a band might be setting up, for example, so that there will always be something to do."
This year's event provides a plethora of options such as free food from Wayside Chicken and Trombleys, inflatables, velcro walls and a free tie-dye station with shirts provided.
Of course, Springfest wouldn't be Springfest without the music; recent years have seen headliners ranging from OK Go to Sara Bareilles. This year's big act, J. Cole, received the best response from a student poll conducted earlier in the year and represented the best of the up-and-coming hip hop artists currently on the scene. To raise interest in the event, UPC sponsored an "Are You Cool as J. Cole?" video contest in which the students with the most "liked" video on Facebook would open for the artist. The winners, second-year College students Janae Dandridge and Johnel Trammell, received more than 400 likes on Facebook for their energetic dance video.
The event also will feature two opening musical acts, including the University Battle of the Bands winner, experimental pop rock group Anatomy of Frank. This wide variety of dynamics - local bands and national acts, traditional eating contests and innovative video contests - makes this year's Springfest a must-attend event to mark on your calendar. Don't miss out, and visit the Facebook event for more information.
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