Every day I walk by the Parade Ground and only see a few students lying down on the grass or playing a sport in one small corner of the open space.
Something that has always bothered me is that the area remains vacant and unused, for the most part. It seems silly that the space is called the “Parade Ground”, but we rarely have anything festive going on there, unless it’s a special occasion.
I think we should have mini music and art festivals there. There are so many talented and creative students at this University, and I believe they get too few opportunities to showcase their work. It would also be a good way to show off their work in a more fun and energized environment, rather than for a contest or educational event.
As an artist and creator myself, I’ve found it is really difficult to break people away from their busy schedules in order to share my creations. I’ve heard many other students also complaining that they have a hard time getting noticed, even in the local community.
Though we have over 30,000 students enrolled in the University, this lack of opportunity isn’t surprising to me because there are not very many settings on campus that encourage students to come together and display their craftsmanship.
A festival would not only be something for the public to enjoy, but also a fun way for all the artists on campus to interact and collaborate. You could meet all types of new people, and it would expose students to new and different genres of art.This could be a chance for students to sell their merchandise, art, creations and even those fire mix tapes.
One drawback is music and art festivals can be pretty expensive to put on. According to an article on Entrepreneur’s website, the cost to start a small scale, startup music festival runs from $10,000-$50,000. This includes the cost of location, vendors, performers, tickets and more.
Since the majority of us are living on a ramen noodles budget, not many of us would want to shell out a lot of cash to share our work.
To remedy that, we could instead start raffles and fundraisers, such as making an account at gofundme.com. Another way to keep costs down would be to keep the event as student-based as possible. Students could bring their own equipment, tents and tables to set up their booths or stations.
There could also be a small fee for the artists to pay to enter the festival, and another small fee the festival goers could pay.
Several other colleges have hosted on-campus music festivals with a few well-known and even more local artists, some of them lasting over a day, such as “Tigerfest” at Towson University in Towson, Maryland or “Slope Day” at Cornell University.
In this case, we wouldn’t have to pay thousands of dollars for a big name celebrity. Instead, we would just have skillful University students sharing their best art pieces.
The festivals could also feature games, contests and giveaways. They could be almost completely student run, and they’d be a good source of fun in a normally stressful environment.
Students could have one carefree day where they could relax, intermingle and discover new art and music.
Harriet Adams is a 20-year-old mass communication sophomore from Bonita, Louisiana.