From the Entertainment Committee that brought you the annual Tree Lighting, now comes TechFest. As described by President of the Entertainment Committee Greg Klesaris, “TechFest will be the biggest event of the semester with Entertainment Committee pulling out all the stops,” with this year’s main attraction being a concert featuring a well-in-tune performer, about whom more details will soon be revealed by the Entertainment Committee. Originally, the idea for this festival was submitted to the Festival Guidance Committee, comprised of five Entertainment Committee (EC) members, five Student Government Association (SGA) officials, and two Office of Student Life members, in March of 2017. Festivals usually take about three to four months to plan, as is the case with Tree Lighting, but TechFest experienced some unforeseen difficulties. At the end of the 2017 summer, unanticipated issues with the booking agent arose and prevented TechFest from occurring in the Fall 2017 semester. As a result, the festival was postponed to the Spring 2018 Semester and the Entertainment Committee continued to plan the event. Mainly, the five to six students that helped with the organization of the festival are associated with the Entertainment Committee and Tree Lighting Committee.
Klesaris explains that “the main challenge with these ‘concert’ festivals is finding an appropriate headliner while staying within the budget and working with agents. Even though working with agents is unavoidable, it adds another potential break in communication between us, the Office of Student Life, the agent, the performer, and upper Stevens administration.”
Although festivals at Stevens held in the Spring have been previously referred to as “Boken” since advertising for TechFest was already in full swing during the fall, Entertainment Committee voted to keep the same name, despite the change of date.
This is the second festival within the past five years that has been proposed by a member of the Entertainment Committee. However, usually, festivals are proposed by a group of students not affiliated with EC or SGA, and, after their bid is accepted, the Entertainment Committee helps guide those students in the planning process and running the event the day of. A festival form to galvanize this process will be released during the Spring 2018 semester.
Klesaris believes that TechFest is a Stevens tradition, as it has existed for approximately 30 years and hopes that “this semester’s TechFest will bring the bar back up high and keep this tradition going for many more years to come” and fosters a sense of community at Stevens. Klesaris aims for this event to satisfy the upperclassmen by providing a sense of nostalgia, reminding them of previous TechFest and Bokens that students express a desire to relive their previous experiences while exposing underclassmen to a Stevens tradition which allows them to understand what upperclassmen are referring to when they reminisce about festivals of the past.
This year’s TechFest will be held on Friday, April 20 on Palmer Lawn from approximately 5-9 p.m. The Entertainment Committee is still in the process of finalizing plans for the opening act of the festival. The opener may include student groups, student DJs, an outside opener, or any combination of the aforementioned. Klesaris shared that the Entertainment Committee has weekly meetings three days a week for TechFest and promises that “all our effort is being put into this festival.” In order to be admitted to TechFest, students must arrive with no bags and bring their Stevens IDs.
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