Throughout UT fraternities, members partake in mural painting, event area cleanup and frat wristband distribution in preparation for West Fest, an Interfraternity Council (IFC)-administered music festival, with artists such as rapper DaBaby, singer Sean Kingston and DJ Adrian McDaniels coming this year.
West Fest began in 1930 as a homecoming tradition that eventually involved floats that paraded around campus. Now it serves as a festival featuring live music events that benefit the fraternities’ respective philanthropies. This weekend, IFC hosts West Fest on Friday and Saturday, and UT hosts Forty Acres Fest on Saturday for a weekend of live entertainment and activities around campus all day.
“It’s a cool opportunity to get to know the vendors and to get to know people who are interested in event planning in the music industry like me,” said Lexi Meador, public relations and Plan II sophomore.
Meador is a part of Headliners, the committee that helps determine the musical artist for Forty Acres Fest. This year, that artist is rapper and singer ASAP Ferg.
“We partner with IFC, (and) how that looks changes each year, but ultimately we work with them to enhance the music festival environment,” Meador said. “This year, we took more of a risk management focus.”
Risk management focuses on identifying the possibilities of what could happen during a large event like this, such as attendees getting injured, being dehydrated or assuring the house does not go over capacity. Aside from Headliners and Forty Acres Fest, frats also highlight risk management when preparing for their events this weekend.
“It’s all stressful because there’s a lot to take into account,” said Ryan Zahedivash, economics sophomore and Pi Kappa Phi president. “The biggest thing is risk management, especially because we are a newer fraternity.”
West Fest’s live entertainment includes bands, solo artists and DJs. Several months in advance, the fraternities’ executive boards discuss who they would like to hire for the day or night, depending on the time of their event.
“It’s honestly a pain,” said Noah Kanter, a petroleum engineering sophomore and Alpha Epsilon Pi social chair. “The earlier, the better, but once you start getting up until two months before the West Fest date, a lot of artists are already booked by other fraternities (or) they may be on tours, so it’s really a struggle to figure out the artist.”
West Fest bands are purchased through Bounce, priced at $35 for UT students and $45 for non-UT students. Philanthropy donations can also be made to frats through this event. Individual frat wristbands can be acquired by going to the frat house and showing a UT ID as well as the West Fest wristband.
“I’m most excited to see this specific event because I’m social (chair), so it’s my duty and responsibility,” Kanter said. “Whatever I put in is what comes out … so I’m excited to see the turnout.”
