More than one thousand students took a break from studying for final exams to attend Street Fest and Relaxation Night on Friday, April 24.
“We just want students to have fun,” communication sophomore and Program Board Vice President Eliza Lanway said. “The whole point of this day is that it’s your final blowout event before you lock yourself in your room for finals week. It’s your last chance to have a lot of fun and then chill out and calm down enough that you’re ready for finals week by the end.”
From noon to 6 p.m., Street Fest featured seven inflatables, a zip line, a rock-climbing wall, bungee trampolines, human hamster balls and takeaway activities such as airbrush tattoos, dog tags and caricatures. Relaxation Night followed, offering activities such as crafts, yoga and chair massages. Hypnotist Brian Imbus held entertainment and self-hypnosis sessions later in the evening.
Lanway said last year was the first time Program Board hosted the event in collaboration with other registered student organizations. The most significant change this year was the change of location into the Ryder Center’s O’Neill Arena.
“Last year it was supposed to be in the courtyard and it rained,” Lanway said. “(We) shifted things into the Rotunda and the (Thompson Student Activities Room) and there was still stuff outside, so it was all over the place. When we went to plan for this year, we figured there was going to be bad weather no matter what, so we put it in the arena just to be safe.”
Communication sophomore Kaylan Sinadinos said she attended the event because the activities offered sounded interesting.
“I also came because it’s a break from finals and it helps relieve stress,” Sinadinos said.
According to Lanway, Program Board provided a majority of funding for the event.
“We earmarked at the beginning of the year – I think it was $20,000 – just for Street Fest because we want it to be a big blowout,” she said.
Peer Health Education, Active Minds, Valley Nights and Residence Housing Association also sponsored the event.
Members of Program Board are already planning for next year’s Street Fest.
“We are toying with the idea of recreating it into a sort of Coachella-like music festival with a couple rides,” Lanway said. “We do this whole inflatable thing for every major event … so we’re trying to see if we can find a new take on it, but still have it be fun and then flow right into Relaxation Night again.”
Pre-medical freshman Valerie Christy believes Street Fest is important because it brings people together.
“I think it’s so great SVSU does this for us,” Christy said. “Someone from Central (Michigan University) told me, ‘We play with puppies, but (we) don’t have anything like this.’ I think it’s cool that our tuition goes to stuff like this, too.”
