Union Board held a discussion group in the New Hall Lounge on Nov. 9 to see what students want to see at Wittfest this year.
“We’re looking into how we can improve Wittfest and possibly restructure the events of the day [to figure out] what programs students want,” Amy Gilligan, ’18, said.
For new students who don’t really know what Wittfest is, the event takes place on a Saturday in April with a ton of fun games and performances, which are held around campus for students to unwind after a long spring semester. There’s face paint, free t-shirts, performances by a cappella groups Just Eve and Wittmen Crew, and the day ends with a concert of up-and-coming bands like 30h!3 and Time Flies.
In the past, Wittfest has been a big reason for people to get drunk for a day, and while that’s always a fun time, Union Board wanted to change the culture so people would want to show up and enjoy the events as a college community. During the discussion, a series of questions were asked so students could bring up what they wanted to see. The group discussed food trucks, face painting, caricatures and a splatter walk, where people would walk down Alumni Way and have paint thrown at them.
In the past, every student at Wittenberg was given a free wristband that gave them all-day access to the events, and a guest wristband to bring in a friend from outside of Wittenberg. Union Board also suggested having students pay for the guest wristbands instead, since there weren’t a lot of people who used the guest passes.
What sort of bands would students want to see at the concert? What if there were two different bands playing at the concert instead of one, and they were different genres? If you didn’t like one, you could still attend part of the concert and enjoy at least one of the bands. Or if you like all sorts of genres, now you get extra entertainment. It would be a win-win, Union Board thought.
Do you have other thoughts about what you want to see at Wittfest? Union Board will continue to have discussion groups like these, so keep an eye out and stay informed about Wittfest.
