By Harrison Kirkland
Pop punk band Red Jumpsuit Apparatus will headline this year’s Spring Fling, which will be hosted on Saturday, April 30 at 6 p.m. by the Wesleyan Activities Council (WAC). The band will be kicking off a 10-year anniversary tour.
Well Reds, an alt-pop rock band that is very popular on the college show market, will also perform. A local pop punk band called Friends With Monsters is set to open the show, and Astro DJ will entertain the crowd with dance music between sets. WAC will also provide a bounce house, a photo booth and a temporary/airbrush tattoo vendor. The group is working on finding a group to sell concession snacks as well.
This year, WAC worked to bring more popular bands to campus in an effort to raise attendance levels.
“We wanted a recognizable name that the campus could afford, and we felt that this group has a throwback value that our students will appreciate,” Director of Student Activities Kate Griffin said.
According to WAC member Julie Ainsley, students did not interact with the bands that came to campus for the Spring Fling in the past.
“We wanted to give the students the opportunity to know some of the bands, like be involved with it…so we can possibly have a bigger budget to do these more often,” Ainsley said.
“The group performing is well-known and I think that says a lot about how VWC caters to the students,” President of the Student Government Association Cassandra McEwan said.
WAC members said they would not be able to put this event together without the help of their grad assistant, Jake King who was Longwood University’s concert planner before coming to Wesleyan. Through his event planning at Longwood, King connected with numerous agents.
“Especially our grad assistant, Jake, he was Longwood’s big concert planner. He had connections with a bunch of the agents,” Ainsley said. “Rather than doing the dunk tank and all the games, we thought we would use him as a tool to give our campus what they kind of need.”
WAC is organizing the Spring Fling event largely because it will give students a means to escape their final papers and tests.
“Spring Fling is another one of the many events put on that gives students the chance to take a break from their hectic work and school schedules,” McEwan said. “Being that it is the last major event of the semester, students really have the chance to let loose and blow off some steam before buckling down for finals.”
Spring Fling will be a private concert for the students at Virginia Wesleyan and is not open to the public. Tickets are free to VWC students, but each student can bring one guest to enjoy the experience with them for five dollars while supplies last.
