With spring in full swing, the Council on University Programming (COUP) will once again bring the annual University carnival to the quadrangles. Summer Breeze, which will begin tonight with a Doc screening of Bring It On on the Main Quadrangle, followed by an outdoor dance party with DJs from Chicago’s B96 radio station, will last until tomorrow evening. Saturday’s event will feature carnival games in the quads, WHPK’s Battle of the Bands, and a Major Activities Board (MAB) outdoor concert.
“We just want everyone to come out, relax, and have fun,” said Marina Tong, COUP board member and event chair of Summer Breeze. Tong said that COUP hopes to give students a good party before finals.
The campus carnival, which will begin at noon on Saturday, will feature a climbing wall, a laser tag arena, a Velcro obstacle course, a face painter, and a caricaturist. Working on a budget of $26,000, COUP is bringing seven inflatables and a stage. Summer Breeze will feature performances throughout Saturday afternoon — including a hypnotist, Occam’s Razor, several a cappella groups, and Inter House Council’s (IHC) Roommate Game.
WHPK will simultaneously host their annual free Battle of the Bands concert on another stage of the quadrangles. The concert will feature 5 to 6 bands, which have received radio play on WHPK. “We want to get people to go out to a show and maybe see groups they haven’t seen before,” said organizer Danielle Choi, adding that the music will range “from pop to hardcore to plain old rock and roll.”
There will also be a MAB concert on Saturday evening in Hutchinson Courtyard. The $10 concert, which will begin at 6 p.m., will feature Fuel, Mos Def and Run DMC.
MAB has also invited student bands — Drexel, Phinny’s Secrets, and Fulton Pysen — to play between sets during the show.
“It’s pretty exciting. Everyone keeps calling it a big opportunity for exposure,” said Sean Mahan, a first-year in the college and bassist for Fulton Pysen. While Mahan is not very familiar with the larger names playing for the show, he is elated about the opportunity to play with them.
Joe Block, another first-year and the drummer for Phinny’s Secrets, is also thrilled to be a part of the concert. “It’s a great opportunity — playing with big-name bands and in front of your peers.”
Block said that the mixing of student bands and the big names that MAB is bringing to campus “is one of the greatest things for the Hyde Park music scene.”
Student RSOs will be participating in various ways during Saturday’s carnival. Approximately 30 RSOs will be selling food, distributing information, and hosting games. Students will also be able to buy food from the Medici on the quads.
Students Organizing Support (SOS), an RSO dedicated to helping nations struck by disaster, will have a dunk tank. For $1 for two balls, students can try to dunk other students, while simultaneously raising money for long-term relief for victims of earthquakes in El Salvador and India.
“We almost had President Randel sitting in the dunk dank,” said Shikha Jain, the founder of SOS. “[He] has out-of-town guests coming this weekend.”
