News-Letter

Media Credit: Conor Kevit Spring Fair 2008 opened with a blast as fireworkers lit up the Homewood Campus last Thursday.

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.

Continued...

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