At the meeting on Tuesday November 30th, the SGA discussed a new plan for the Spring Fair Music Festival.
Instead of having one concert for the Spring Fair Music Festival with a famous artist, events will run on three stages across campus. There will be continuous music, approximately 52 total performances, from small local bands and a few up-and-coming artists.
“It’s free and out on the quad so students can attend on impulse. I think we are moving in the right direction,” SGA President Mark Dirzulaitis said.
“I think it’s a smart idea. If you have one large band, half the people aren’t going to like them,” freshman Caroline Youse said. “It gives them more variety.”
One reason for the major change is lack of funding. “Every year they run in the red,” Dirzulaitis said. Last year’s Spring Fair was estimated as being $15,000 over budget.
The recent change was met with some student approval.
“The school can save money and spend it on other things,” freshman Zachary Dorsen said.
Dirzulaitis explained that it was a necessary measure.“Spring fair wants to make a profit,” he said.
Senior class senator Saharsh Patel disagreed with this philosophy. “It should be for the students. It’s not an event that should be changed to create profits,” Patel said.
Since the Spring Fair Music Festival has been so unprofitable in the last few years, the administration refused to supply the funds needed to bring in a large headlining artist.
“The idea of a headliner will not happen. The administration will not give money for it. Spring fair doesn’t have a lot of options,” Wyatt Larkin, SGA Treasurer, said
“We came in asking for $30,000 and we got promised $30,000 plus an advertising budget,” Dirzulaitis said.
A third of the allocated budget is dedicated to paying for a few more prominent up-and-coming artists, and the additional $5,000 to $10,000 for advertising and outreach will specifically target colleges such as Loyola, Towson, Notre Dame, and Goucher.
Even if the SGA were to scrape up the funds to attract a big artist, the largest venues on campus are too small to hold a large concert where enough tickets can be sold to make back the money spent on the artist.
“The issue is now the people who are planning the music festival. The problem is that we don’t have a venue that would allow us to do a concert that would be profitable,” Larkin said.
Despite some disappointment about lack of financial support from the administration, the SGA is making the best of the situation with this alternative plan.
“It was between nothing and this. Personally, I love this idea,” Dirzulaitis said.
Sophomore class senator, Archie Henry, said: “I really like the idea of a music festival. There’s constant music [and] different styles of music.”
“It’s cool to support local bands,” freshman Geena Frumkin said. “You can see big artists when they come by in concert.”
“Spring Fair music festival used to be huge. We want to create a reason for the community to come back in,” Dirzulaitis said.
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