Springfest Wins Rave Reviews

Although the question of which band would play at Springfest dominated campus discussion of the event several months ago, this Saturday many students seemed less concerned with the Violent Femmes than they were with the long lines in front of the Sno-Cone machine.

Taking a break from papers, meetings and frantic pre-reading period trips to the library, thousands of students crowded into the Mac Quad Saturday to enjoy an afternoon of free food, amusements and live music.

The Undergraduate Council, which planned the event, spent more money this year than in previous years, mainly due to the $22,000 fee for the band, said Stephen N. Smith '02, co-organizer of the event.

According to Smith, although the band was better known than those hired in recent years, this year's biggest innovation was the council's decision to include student groups in the event.

"There are so many of them and they're such an integral part of the campus that to have a campus wide event without them really doesn't make sense," he said.

In addition to the standard Springfest offerings, students had the chance to visit the Entrepreneur's Club's and the Radcliffe Choral Society's booths and to see the Juggling Club in action.

This year the council also attempted to turn Springfest into more of a weekend-long event, according to Smith, with Friday night's Battle of the Bands and a Saturday night dance party in Eliot House.

But the main event remained Saturday's festival in the quad. The Harvard variation on a county fair attracted an estimated 3,000 people, almost twice as many as attended last year.

This year the council decided not to serve alcohol. Smith said that students disliked last year's arrangement, which forced students to consume alcohol inside a fenced-in area due to administration concerns.

"It would have been even worse this year--the administration really didn't want us to do it," Smith said.

He added that having alcohol at the event would have raised insurance fees and said this year the council had decided to use the extra money to include student groups in the festivities.

Many students, displeased by last year's set-up, said they did not mind the change.

"It was a total drag that they had the cage,"she said. This year, Hamm said she returned forthe food and the weather and said she wasunconcerned by the lack of alcohol.

Olivia Verma '00 also attended last year'sSpringfest and said going into the alcohol "cage"made her feel like a criminal. This year she saidshe barely noticed its absence.

As some students bounced down the inflatableTitanic slide and wondered why the cotton candymachine spent much of the day unplugged, otherslounged on the grass enjoying the uncommonly goodweather and the Harvard Dining Services barbecue.

Other attractions included body painting, adunk tank, jousting, a moonbounce and a velcrowall.

Jonathan P. Lim '00 said he came mainly for theamusements and the fried dough.

"I want to be a sumo man," Lim said, referringto the sumo wrestling taking place across thequad. "Then me and my roommate want to beat eachother with padded sticks--it's a good way to getout your roommate aggression.

"It was a total drag that they had the cage,"she said. This year, Hamm said she returned forthe food and the weather and said she wasunconcerned by the lack of alcohol.

Olivia Verma '00 also attended last year'sSpringfest and said going into the alcohol "cage"made her feel like a criminal. This year she saidshe barely noticed its absence.

As some students bounced down the inflatableTitanic slide and wondered why the cotton candymachine spent much of the day unplugged, otherslounged on the grass enjoying the uncommonly goodweather and the Harvard Dining Services barbecue.

Other attractions included body painting, adunk tank, jousting, a moonbounce and a velcrowall.

Jonathan P. Lim '00 said he came mainly for theamusements and the fried dough.

"I want to be a sumo man," Lim said, referringto the sumo wrestling taking place across thequad. "Then me and my roommate want to beat eachother with padded sticks--it's a good way to getout your roommate aggression.