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Brittany Ballantyne
Equinox Staff
Cabin fever, Keene students? This year’s Spring Weekend will be a first for many students and an annual tradition for others.
Spring Weekend marks the start of the spring season, bringing a warmer and more energetic vibe to campus. This will soon mean no winter coats, no driving to class only to find out it’s been cancelled due to snow, and the outbreak of skateboards.
This highly anticipated weekend-long event is mostly outdoors. Spring Weekend kicks off on Friday, April 15.
It starts with an “Outdoor Fiasco,” taking place between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.
On the campus grounds there will be a lot of food offered to students along Appian Way, as well as inflatables, cactus plants, and other spring décor.
Various stands will line the campus grounds including a henna station, a temporary tattoo which is drawing-like designs for the skin.
To complete the night will be comedian Hal Sparks from VH1’s “I Love the…” series and “Queer as Folk.” Sparks has made his name for himself through his talents which include acting, comedy, hosting a game show, and making heavy-metal music.
Any student looking for laughter can attend his free show which begins Friday at 8 p.m. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday will continue the springtime festivities with producer Lupe Fiasco and Sam Adams, who are both noted rappers.
GreenStreet is a part of the package as well. This performance will take place in the Spaulding Gymnasium at 7:30 p.m. and will end around 10:30 p.m.
KSC students are offered $10 tickets, which may go quickly as students can purchase two tickets per ID.
Any others who wish to see the show must pay $30. These tickets are available in person March 28, March 29 as well as April 5 and 6 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Tickets can also be purchased online at ksctix.com starting April 11.
This musical selection has many students excited including sophomore Katie Quiet.
Quiet said that she is excited for Adams because, “Adams is from Boston and he always represents the city.” Before the announcement of these artists was released, a number of students were already getting involved in influencing the music choices for this year’s event.
Rumors circulated that Wiz Khalifa would be making his way to Keene to perform.
Students seemed to be all for this rapper putting on a show for Spring Weekend.
So much so that an entire Facebook group was created. This group was made up of 3,158 students who agreed that Khalifa should make the stage cut.
The members of this group made it clear that they did not want a mellow artist like the previous year.
Quiet explained that last year’s featured band, Dashboard Confessional, was not so much of a hit. While the band is generally popular, it was not the level of hype most students were looking for during an already eventful weekend.
Quiet remembers the show was not sold out and said she spent her time around campus and the streets of Keene instead of attending the show.
Those who did want to attend could not find many others to join them, according to freshman Devan Witzenbocker.
Although she is a fan of the group, she pointed out that this year’s artists will get people more pumped up and bring in a lot of money simultaneously.
Witzenbocker spoke of the weekend and its freebies. On Friday, Spring Weekend t-shirts will be given out.
These t-shirts are complete with the winning logo design of a campus-wide contest.
This contest was for any KSC student who drew up a t-shirt decked out with the Spring Weekend entertainments listed across its material.
There are about 2,000 of these tops available to students at no cost. Witzenbocker recommended getting to the event ahead of time to be assured one’s own “free t.” She insisted that these long lines “are the place to be” and, “there’s no sleeping in when you’re getting a free t-shirt!” Witzenbocker said events such as these create a pile of freebies over time.
Witzenbocker admitted that most of her t-shirts are from KSC events from collecting them over time.
Freshmen students as well as newcomers to the KSC campus are not sure what to expect.
Freshman Dillon Mercier explained that he isn’t really sure what is to come of this weekend long event and plans to “go with the flow” when the time comes around.
The Social Activities Council has worked towards putting the event on for quite some time now and have high hopes for an invigorating weekend to include newcomer transfers, freshmen, and returning KSC students.
Quiet said she spoke for many when she insisted that, “Spring Weekend is easily my favorite part of Keene in the spring,” and said the events are comparable to PumpkinFest.
Brittany Ballantyne can be contacted at bballantyne@keeneequinox.com
