Last year, students knew the Spring Fest lineup a week after spring break.
But with three and a half weeks until this year’s show, students are still waiting for Student Association to announce the lineup.
SA has yet to release any information on the artists or the genre of the show. SA confirmed last year’s Spring Fest on March 22, 2016 after The Spectrum found that Ticketmaster’s website leaked the lineup of The Chainsmokers, Mac Miller, Coleman Hell and Icona Pop.
Marc Rosenblitt, SA’s entertainment coordinator, did say Spring Fest will be held indoors this year.
“We would really like it to be outside,” Rosenblitt said. “But the university gave us some logistical restrictions that we couldn’t overcome.”
He also reassures students that this year’s festival is going just as planned and that there is nothing to worry about.
“No one should be concerned. The fest is shaping up the same way that it always does,” Rosenblitt said. “This is really no later of an announcement date than usual. It might be a few days or weeks later than it was last year, but honestly, it’s all just due to paperwork, logistics and dealing with contracts, negotiating, lawyers and that sort of thing.”
Rosenblitt hopes to publish an announcement about the festival by the end of this week or early next week.
Autum Carter, a sophomore exercise science major, said she is concerned that the show might not be as good as previous year’s.
“I’m really excited for Spring Fest as always, but I’m starting to think they couldn’t get a good headliner or maybe an act canceled because they’re announcing the lineup really late this year,” Carter said.
Bobby Lundy, a sophomore civil engineering major, said he was satisfied with Travis Scott’s electrifying performance during Fall Fest, but hopes Spring Fest will follow its counterpart’s footsteps.
“I’m very concerned they don't know what they're doing, especially since the original artist may not have committed,” Lundy said. “It seems like this year, everything is just getting scraped together last minute and that’s worrying me.”
Some students feel SA’s ticketing policy for Fall Fest was too chaotic and that the school should revert back to swiping a student ID in exchange for a physical ticket.
Tickets can be reserved through the same method as Fall Fest starting on April 17 on the SA website. Students must sit according to the location printed on their reserved ticket.
Other students are steering clear of the festival because they said it was too difficult to reserve a ticket that is in the same zone as their friends.
“I kind of hate it. It's such a [bad] system,” Carter said. “I pay tuition. Let me sit with my friends where I want to sit. Plus, the site always crashes and they know it’s going to. It was better when you had to swipe and pick up a ticket. If I don’t get one this year I’m going to throw a fit.”
Fall Fest and Spring Fest are funded by the mandatory student activity fee of $104.75 per semester. Most students think it’s unfair that everyone has to pay the fee, yet not everyone attends the show.
“I really have no idea who’s going to be performing, but I’m excited,” said Jeff Mohamed, a freshman business major. “Maybe I'll come if it’s organized better, but I think a lot of people won’t end up being able to go because of these ticketing regulations.”
Rosenblitt said students should be excited for this year’s fest and that they have a great group of bands set to perform.
“It’ll be a good show. We’ve got good bands lined up and everyone should enjoy it,” Rosenblitt said.
*Benjamin Blanchet contributed reporting to this story.
Max Kalnitz is the senior arts editor and can be reached at max.kalnitz@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Ryan Hagen | UB Athletics
