Stepping out into the Yard

The recent announcement that Kid Cudi will perform at this year’s Yardfest was music to many students’ ears. We too are extremely excited for Yardfest—a time for all Harvard students to gather together for an afternoon of tire swings, music, food, and fun. In fact, the College should channel more attention and resources toward creating other large-scale, inclusive social events that are similar to Yardfest.

The nature of Yardfest is quite different from most of the smaller club events that are located in common rooms or dining halls. The latter events, small-scale and exclusive by their nature, do little to foster school spirit. Yardfest has a proven ability to excite the student body and draw out a big audience: Around 7,100 students came out for Sara Bareilles and Ratatat last year, and about 7,000 showed up in 2008 for Wu-Tang Clan and Gavin DeGraw. With mainstream hip-hop artist Kid Cudi, known best for his hit song “Day ‘n’ Nite,” we can expect a similarly strong or stronger turnout at this year’s concert, providing a rare opportunity for students to relish being a part of the Harvard community as a whole.

In addition to fostering school spirit that is otherwise lacking on campus, large-scale social activities offer a much-needed time to relieve stress and take a break from the daily grind of work and exams. The opportunity to see a famous artist will compel students to put down their work for an afternoon and enjoy a stress-free and fun concert. We are also glad that the event is held outdoors in the Yard—the opportunity to leave the dorms and hang out outside is undoubtedly good for students’ mental health.

Though Yardfest in general is a great event, the choice to have Kid Cudi perform is especially commendable. In the past, the Yardfest artist selections have evoked controversy, but this year, the College Events Board and the Harvard Concert Commission made a concerted effort to pick a mainstream artist who would appeal to a larger portion of the student body. As the second-most popular poll response, Kid Cudi certainly accomplishes that goal. And students who prefer a different niche of music will hopefully be satisfied with the choice of Patrick Park as the opening act.

In years past, despite heavily debated choices of performers, Yardfest managed to draw enormous crowds. We are hopeful that attendance this year will be stronger than ever and strongly encourage the College to seriously consider offering more events like Yardfest in the future.