Spring Fair 2008 opened with a blast as fireworkers lit up the Homewood Campus last Thursday.

Spring Fair draws largest crowd in years

By: Jenny Klein

Posted: 5/1/08

From fireworks to fried Oreos, the offerings at this year's Spring Fair attracted people from all walks of life to the Homewood campus.

An estimated 20,000 people attended the Spring Fair festivities this year, the highest count recorded in recent years. Although Sunday was noticeably less busy due to the cool, damp weather, even these conditions were far superior to last year's rainy weekend.

The Spring Fair Committee's efforts were particularly evident on Thursday night's opening fireworks display.

"I was really impressed with the turnout. It seemed like the largest on-campus event that I've been to in a while. I've never seen so many Hopkins students at an event. I'm glad the University finally agreed to host them," sophomore Catherine Goldstead said when the show was over.

Earning the approval by the University, city and state for the fireworks display took several months and cost $3,500. The Committee took extra precautions to ensure that students would be far away from the fireworks and that the show would not pose a fire hazard or damage school lawns or buildings. They also informed nearby residents that the show was going to take place.

Held since 1971, the annual student-run Fair is one the most anticipated events of year. Over 30 food vendors, a beer garden, carnival rides, a petting zoo, live performers and art booths filled the campus last weekend.

Another well-attended Fair event was the Reel Big Fish and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony concert, a mixture of the ska and rap genres.

Funded by donations from Student Council, the HOP and Dean Boswell, the Spring Fair Committee sold between 1,800 and 2,000 tickets, 1,300 of which were to students.

"We've been trying to have a concert outdoors for years, and it was great to finally get that accomplished," senior Spring Fair Coordinator Steven Farber said.

Because the outdoor practice field provided more audience space than the Recreation center afforded in years past, a higher number of tickets were sold for this year's concert than any Spring Fair concert before.

There were 1,500 tickets sold for last year's concert, and it was considered a considerable turnout at the time.

This year's concert, however, produced mixed reviews from the crowds. While some students felt as though the crowd was lackluster and boring, others were impressed by the crowd-surfing and high attendance.

Numerous other local bands, including student acts Kai Selterman, Edwin Cuervo, and Scott Wham, played throughout the weekend on Daytime Entertainment Stage on the Beach.

The Beer Garden was, as usual, one of the most frequented attractions. Security was out in high force this year, and very few cases of underage drinking and disorderly conduct were reported.

"The only explanation for such a smooth event this year is the high visibility of our officers and guards," Lieutenant Steve Ossmus said.

Ossmus said that over the past several years, the Baltimore Police Department has increased and improved its officer visibility.

"[We have new policies] such as neon yellow shirts and coats, bicycle patrols, segways and the retention of off-duty Baltimore Police to patrol areas contiguous to campus," he said.

Baltimore City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke said that the only complaint she heard about from local constituents was the high noise level of the Friday night concert, which she described as "loud rap music with the foul language."

Thirty different art, clothing, and jewelry vendors were also featured at Spring Fair - six more than last year.

"The food was a little overpriced, but it was a nice change from the FFC," freshman Lily Seglin said.

According to Farber, the food vendors were placed in an open U-shape around the Freshman Quad to give fair competition and equal visibility to all participants. Some of the favorites were the pit beef barbeque station, the chicken- on-a-stick station, and the lemonade and smoothie station.

Sophomore Yasin Akbari said that she believed there was not enough variety in terms of food options.

"There were a few Thai places, a few barbeque places, and a ton of lemonade stands, and although they were all delicious there wasn't a lot of range in the varieties of food offered," Akbari said.

Student groups also played a large role in the event. Numerous groups set up booths in both the Freshman Quad and the Beer Garden.

Many fraternities and sororities helped out with the planning and execution of the Fair.

In addition to organizing numerous activities for visitors and students, many of the groups raised money for their respective philanthropic organizations.

Kappa Kappa Gamma hosted activities for neighborhood children which included coloring and balloons.

Kappa Alpha Theta hosted a "Pie-a-Theta" booth, and the proceeds went to their philanthropy CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates).

Alpha Phi and Alpha Delta Phi collaborated in a 72-hour see-saw to raise money for Cardiac Care.

Phi Kappa Alpha hosted a wing-eating contest as well as a bike-a-thon fundraiser for St. Jude's Hospital, which raised $4,000.

Sigma Phi Epsilon organized Cuts for Cancer, an event in which brothers were sponsored to shave their heads, raising $1,300 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

As usual, members of Hopkins's Greek Life, student groups and other various local non-profit organizations also had a strong on-campus presence throughout this year's Spring Fair weekend.