Yardfest Will Be Closed to Most Visiting Prefrosh

UPDATED: April 23, 2015, at 12:59 a.m.

Most admitted members of the Class of 2019 will not be allowed entrance into Yardfest on Friday, despite their revisit weekend beginning the next day.

According to Visitas director Timothy J. Smith '08, a former Crimson business editor, only admitted students who received permission based on religious or medical reasons to arrive a day early for Visitas will be allowed to attend the concert, which will be headlined by British pop artist Jessie J.

Students cheer on the band “Hot Breakfast” last year at Yardfest in Tercentenary Theater. By Shunella Grace Lumas

The Admissions Office only approved “a very small number” of admitted students to be allowed on campus a day early based on religious or medical reasons, Smith said. Those students will be given their Visitas identification cards early, giving them access to the annual spring concert for College students put on by the College Events Board, while the bulk of prospective students will not receive their cards until 7 a.m. Saturday morning when Visitas officially begins.

College Events Board Co-Chair Dakota D. Santana-Grace ’16 said the board had worked with the Admissions Office throughout the planning process and that “any prefrosh who had registered with Admissions will of course be allowed into Yardfest.” He noted that Yardfest has a large security presence compared to other campus events.

Visitas has not fallen on the same weekend as Yardfest since 2011, when headliner Far East Movement drew a crowd of around 7,000 to Tercentenary Theatre.

Smith did not respond to questions about whether there was a concern about prospective students consuming alcohol. The Visitas brochure distributed to admitted students contains the boldfaced reminder, “The legal drinking age in Massachusetts is 21 and the use of illicit drugs is a violation of University rules, as well as state and federal laws.”

With Jessie J as top billing, the two victors of Harvard’s Battle for Yardfest in March—self-proclaimed “middle school rock” group Black Tie Affair and soul band The Intrinsics—will open the concert.

—Staff writer Daphne C. Thompson can be reached at daphne.thompson@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @daphnectho.