By Natalie DeFord, A&E Writer
LollaPLUza will shut down Garfield Street May 10 with music, food, activities and more.
People will gather for Pacific Lutheran University’s annual spring festival along the strip between campus and the Garfield Book Company.
Senior Olivia McLaughlin is the programs director for Associated Students of Pacific Lutheran University and also serves as chair of the LollaPLUza Committee.
In the past, McLaughlin said the community has seen LollaPLUza as primarily a music festival, but this year the goal is to make it more like a street festival and spring bash.
McLaughlin said the committee is shooting for this goal by trying to get a lot of different music this year and more activities for students to do during the day. The festival will have booths from many of the clubs on campus and within the community.
Other activities at the festival will include Giant Jenga, put on by Habitat for Humanity. McLaughlin said there will also be a community art project that organizers have yet to decide the details on, but it will be similar to last year’s mural.
Another activity will be a tie-dye station, and in the week leading up to LollaPLUza, tank tops will be for sale.
McLaughlin said she is hoping there will be inflatables.
Senior Olivia Ash, the general manager for Lute Air Student Radio, is also a LollaPLUza committee member and said a bounce house is a possibility.
Ash described the LollaPLUza committee as “a group of students that come together because we love music and live events.”
Ash said the committee meets approximately once per week to assign tasks. Her job, she said, is more focused on the actual day of the event.
“I booked the green rooms and then the day of the concert I’ll be showing them [the bands] around and buying them food and hosting the students,” Ash said. “So I haven’t done a ton yet, but the day of, I’ll be pretty busy.”
Green rooms, which for LollaPLUza will be PLU classrooms, are where the bands stay before they play.
McLaughlin said the headliner, Parade of Lights, was originally thousands of dollars outside of PLU’s budget. But after hearing about LollaPLUza — what it is and who has played at it in the past — the band was interested and agreed to come and play for a much lower price.
“We’re super excited to get them,” McLaughlin said. She described the music by Parade of Lights as dance, electro and fun.
In addition to Parade of Lights, the committee has scheduled a wide variety of bands and performers to play.
Senior David Gordon, LollaPLUza’s student band coordinator, said there will be an interesting array of bands this year.
Gordon said the committee selected student performers in different ways. The two groups with the most votes from Battle of the Bands were in the LollaPLUza lineup as well as artists who auditioned separately.
He said with about four student bands and four outside bands, LollaPLUza will have between seven and nine performers.
Ash said one of her favorite student bands, Shakatones, will perform. “They’re just really good. They have synth and drums, and it’s really groovy,” Ash said.
The lineup also includes jazz/funk/fusion, soul and electronic. “We actually have a student DJ as one of our performers this year, so we’ve got all kinds of music,” Gordon said.
Junior Campbell Brett, a student DJ known as Tutellus, will be among the performers at LollaPLUza this year.
“I’m very excited for this opportunity,” Brett said. “It’s a great way to give students the opportunity to show what they can do in their different bands — for me, DJ performance.”
Brett makes original tracks and mixes them in with other songs during his live performances, but he also said a large part of his job as a DJ is to “get the crowd riled up, be excited and overall just have a great time and show people the music I love.”
Brett said he remembers having fun at LollaPLUza last year and looks forward to this year. “Last year I went. It was a great time, and I’m betting this year will be fantastic, and it will be great to be a part of it,” he said.
Gordon said it’s going to be a fun time. “You get to hear our amazingly talented PLU students and you get to hear some amazingly talented people who don’t go to school here,” he said.
Ash said she cannot wait for the good food, fun and music.
After announcing the cancellation of the spring formal, the ASPLU Facebook page posted: “We are sad to announce that Spring Formal has officially been canceled. However, the future is bright! Tomorrow [April 25], we will welcome a new group of Senators to ASPLU AND LollaPLUza is right around the corner!! We are working hard to make Lolla the best end of the year celebration ever!”
