Rather than rushing from class to class with books in hand, students strolled campus from booth to booth with prizes in hand down the South and East Malls.

The 20th annual Forty Acres Fest Saturday hosted almost 100 organization’s booths offering food, games, henna tattoos, caricatures and inflatable obstacle courses. Entertainment was provided by multiple student artists, and ended with the indie rock band Minus The Bear as the headliner.

“We all need this right now,” Melissa Herman said, organization co-chair and American studies sophomore. “The end of the semester can be a stressful time because of finals and everything, so it’s definitely nice to have the opportunity to beat up a car for a couple of dollars on campus.”

Herman said the committee of 22 students began planning for the event in September. She said more organizations than ever signed up to participate this year, and creative planning was necessary to accommodate them because of the current re-grassing of South Mall.

“One thing that has been different this year is there is construction on South Mall so we have had to work around that,” she said. “Booths went down East Mall when they usually just go down South Mall. It’s been very interesting to work around, but it went fine.”

Minus The Bear was chosen as this year’s headliner because their music brings a positive energy to set the mood, Music Entertainment Committee advisor Dylan Smith said.

“It is our job to find a headliner who appeals to a large number of students, is available and affordable,” Smith said. “Minus The Bear offered all of those things and will create a good atmosphere.”

Smith said although he enjoyed Minus The Bear, seeing the student musicians and organizations coming together to give students a good time while promoting their causes was the most exciting part of the day.

“There is something at Forty Acres [Fest] for everyone,” he said. “It’s so good to see months of hard work paying off and everyone having fun together whether they are here to listen to great music, support great causes or just relax with friends.”

Global Medical Training is one organization who participated in the festival this year. They had a pie throwing booth with candy and information about their organization.

“Forty Acres Fest is one of the biggest events of the year, so we really wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to tell people about us,” Melanie Molina, Global Medical Training member and biology and Spanish senior, said. “It’s a great way to recruit members and have fun.”

Printed on Monday, April 16th, 2012 as: Forty Acres Fest hosts booth events, Minus the Bear show