As the semester goes on, SLU students are getting increasingly excited for the festivities that will soon happen on our campus: Titus, Folk Fest, Melon Fest, and of course, Spring Fest. In this article, besides my Hill News writer/editor hat, I put on my ACE President hat to give you an update on what the Association for Campus Entertainment is doing to ensure a successful music festival this late Spring. 

For those of you who haven’t been/heard of Spring Fest, it is a festival day where ACE turns the Intramural field into a concert venue and invites bands/artists/DJs to campus to perform for the student body. This year’s Spring Fest is set to happen on April 16. We are privileged to have the biggest budget ever for a Spring Fest, and we aim to deliver and match your expectation.  

Here’s an update from Kelley Daphness ‘23, our Concerts Co-chair, “ACE and Java will be hosting a Battle of the Bands on either April 8 or April 9,” she says. “During it, bands get a chance to compete to be an opening act for our Spring Fest artist.” Our Concerts Co-chair Morgan Welling ‘23, like Daphness, is ready for Battle of the Bands and encourages students to start forming bands and practice now. 

Welling shares that ACE is happy to welcome Gaby Ferreyra ’22, a wonderful Bolivian musical artist with notable songs such as Olvida Ya and Warmi, to join the lineup. The Concerts commitment and ACE believe that both Battle of the Bands winner and Ferreyra will showcase SLU talents to the student body and to our invited artist.  

Acknowledging the comments that the student body made regarding last Fall Fest, Welling has more to announce, “This Spring Fest, we will bring back two things. First, the concert will start at nighttime rather than daytime with concert doors open at 5pm and the first artist play at 6pm,” she says. “Additionally, we will bring back physical tickets for you to pick up a week before the concert and keep afterwards as a souvenir.” 

Our organization plans to have our Artist Reveal event in late March, so students should keep an eye out for our announcement after Spring Break. Finally, on behalf of ACE, I want to thank the student body for sharing your thoughts through our Genre/Artist survey over the winter break. Your input has allowed us to understand both who we should pursue and what we should do differently this Fest to ensure an enjoyable experience for everyone. 

We also want to make known that the artist booking process for the concert may go smoothly, and it may not. There are many factors at play such as artists’ availability and budget constraint that are out of our control, so we ask that the student body be respectful and understanding of our process. Moreover, though Spring Fest is one of the main events that ACE has to offer this semester, we have other activities planned by our wonderful Special Events, Comedy, and Pub56 chairs. Please give them the same attention that you give our concerts and reach out if you have any event ideas you want to share. Our weekly meetings at 4:15pm on Mondays are open to the student body. For inquiries or questions, please contact ace@stlawu.edu or @slu_ace (Instagram).