Yardfest: It’s Worth It

Harvard University offers a wide variety of social events for students, but few are quite as expansive as Yardfest. As someone who has devoted time to running this event over the past few years, there was nothing that disappointed me more than hearing students complain about how unhappy they were with the event. While I was largely uninvolved with the process this year, I was acutely aware of the limitations faced by the Harvard College Concert Commission and the College Events Board in the selection of artists. While some students may have been pleased with the selection, the level of enthusiasm for this iteration of Yardfest was the lowest I’ve ever witnessed. It’s easy to pin blame on the CEB and HCC for the quality of the event, but as someone who has helped select artists, having a small budget doesn’t leave much room to hire most musicians. It is also counterproductive to blame the university for providing limited funding—there are plenty of important economic issues at Harvard that probably require more attention. However, I do believe that this event can and should be improved. Most other schools avoid the problems we face by charging for tickets, and I think that this can be done at Harvard without compromising the essential mission of Yardfest.

Based on my interactions with the administration and planning organizations, Yardfest was envisioned as an event to unite the student body for a day of music, relaxation, and fun. At a university that is extremely vigilant of the exclusivity it can breed, unifying the undergraduate population is a valiant goal. There aren’t many other opportunities to do this—Harvard doesn’t turn 375 years old every year, house formals can’t accommodate everyone, and neither can dorm parties or Final Clubs. Given the unique nature of this event and its ability to bring together over six thousand students who are generally busy with their demanding personal and academic lives, structural changes should be implemented to improve the event. If Harvard truly cannot contribute more funding to the event, I think the best option would be to charge students a small sum of $10 or $15 for entry.

Most of our fun events at Harvard—like formals and senior week—cost money. For those who can’t afford these events, Harvard has graciously established the Student Events Fund. Given that Yardfest happens once, the cost is minimal, especially if students know their money expands the pool of artists the HCC and CEB can choose from. Not only would this make it easier for these organizations to bring more artists who may appeal to a wider audience, but it would also make compromise between these groups easier. This, I believe, would lead to more appealing and musically diverse lineups.

When I was on the artist selection subcommittee, our petty fights stemmed from scarcity of resources rather than an inability to find artists that we thought the student body, regardless of their music tastes, would have a great time listening to. Anyone who has friends at other colleges knows what our Yardfest lineups could look like. Those lineups don’t happen because these colleges provide unlimited funding for the event—they happen because students buy tickets. While in an ideal world the event would remain free and attract the likes of high-caliber and popular musicians, that’s not the world we live in. Economic realities make that unlikely in the near-term, but if Harvard really cares about making Yardfest the special and exciting event that it is supposed to be, it should seriously reconsider charging for entry. Maybe I’m in the minority, but I think great music and a day with all your fellow undergraduates is well worth paying for.

Shadman S. Zaman ’12 is a sociology concentrator in Kirkland House. He served as director of the Harvard College Concert Commission from 2010-2011.