Usually Spring Fest and Earth Fest coincide, so instead of competing for attendees, forces were combined to create the epic event – Spring Fest on Earth Day.

The event is set to be held on Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22, with activities starting at 11 a.m. and lasting until 4:30 p.m. Afterwards everyone is encouraged to attended the Lacrosse game at 5:30 on the turf field behind the Moose

“[Tree Top] booked the band Red Umbrella in a process called block booking,” said Music Coordinator of Tree Top Productions and Student Coordinator of Spring Fest Sarah Freehafer. “It happened to work out on the 22nd, and Heather (our advisor) thought it’d be a good idea to combine both and work with other groups to make this a big campus wide event we can all get behind.”

“We always do Spring Fest. They’ve been doing Earth Fest for a while and since it worked out on the same day, we decided to work together.”

Red Umbrella, a Canadian “solid fun rock band”, is the closing act of an event-packed day.

Local band Breathe Owl Breath is set to kick-off the festivities Tuesday night at 8 p.m. in the Moose. They are a “folksy rock” sounding band, who sings about “environmental themes” according to GEO President Melissa Menerey. She and other members of GEO met the band last summer and decided to book them for the event. An interesting twist is that they use and recycled childhood toys on some of their songs, adding to their unique sound.

A wide assortment of events are planned for the day. Starting at 11 a.m., an Ultimate Frisbee tournament will be hosted by RHA. Competitors’ hard work and skills will not go unnoticed – a grand prize will be awarded to the champions. Outdoor activities such as face painting, Henna, tie-dying and flowerpot decorating will be going on at various times throughout the day. Inflatables in Touchdown Mary will be blown up for your jumping entertainment from noon until 4 p.m.

The driving theme behind the day is to incorporate everyone campus-wide, as well as the surrounding community. Promotion of local businesses, including a Farmer’s Market featuring produce from local farmers that is planned to be held in Wege Mall, will ensure community outreach.

Two acts are nestled between Breathe Owl Breathe’s Tuesday night performance and Red Umbrella’s finale on Wednesday. A band of Aquinas students who got their recent start at Open Mic Night is scheduled to start the day at 11 a.m. Although the group is so new it has yet to decide on a name, they have prepared a set of songs.

“We are planning on playing all covers for the show and sticking primarily to blues like Albert King and BB King,” said sophomore drummer Kyle Tomczyk. “We are playing a few jazz tunes, and maybe dipping into a tiny bit of rock.”

“We are also looking at asking a few people, possibly a professor or two, to play a song with us.”
Music for all preferences will be provided as a Reggae band is set to follow with a performance at 12:30.
“The idea was to reach out to different sections of the student body,” said Menerey. “Like people who like free stuff.”

The group of students who likes free stuff is perhaps the largest, and will not be overlooked as all activities throughout the day are free. In addition, 450 free t-shirts will be handed out like Halloween candy until they are gone. During intermission between the three bands, prizes will be raffled off. Among them are gift certificates to local restaurants such as Schnitz Deli and the ever-coveted grand prize of two tickets to the 2nd annual Rothbury Music Festival. The tickets, which were donated by Alumni Relations, will be given away at the end.

After Spring Fest on Earth Day is officially over, everyone is encouraged to attend the Men’s Lacrosse game on the field behind the Moose at 5:30.

Besides the overarching and obvious theme of fun, the event seeks to bring together not only the student body but faculty and staff to celebrate two pretty great things – the Earth and Spring.