(seb) talks about Kesha and Quadmania

Vice President of Programming and Head of Design and Marketing at (seb) gives a breakdown of what goes into planning Quadmania and what to expect from the upcoming festivities.

Quadmania is a highly anticipated social event in the spring for UMBC students, according to the student events board (seb). It is a huge festival spanning the entire weekend from April 24 to 26. This year, it will feature a dance party, the traditional carnival day and a Kesha concert to close out the festivities.

Ji Sung Kwon, Vice President of Programming and senior health administration and public policy major, explained that planning for Quadmania is such a large undertaking that the planning process actually begins in the fall semester.

Everyone who works at (seb) breaks into 3 or 4 groups to tackle different aspects of planning the event. “We have groups for planning what rides or inflatables to bring to the festival,” said Kwon. “For me, I’m in charge of food and hospitality.”

While those at (seb) can’t say for sure what rides to expect, as contracts for rides are not yet finalized, it is safe to expect obstacle courses, large inflatables and traditional carnival rides. (seb) is looking to have more rides than last year.

Kwon also shared that for food and hospitality, there will be 5 or 6 food trucks with vegetarian and vegan options available. There will also be more seating options than last year.

Kwon, whose favorite Kesha song is “Die Young,” explained what goes into the decision making when it comes to selecting an artist to perform at Quadmania. She mentioned that (seb) leaned more on student input this year than they have in the past.

During Involvement Fest, (seb) polled students to determine what kind of music they listen to and what genres they prefer.

“With having voting at Involvement Fest, it worked out better than last time,” Kwon said. “Based on that, we check artist availability and affordability.” (seb) also looked at booking Jason Derulo, Big Sean or Paramore, but Kesha still came out on top.

According to Kwon, (seb) has been getting more positive feedback than usual in relation to the Quadmania act. “Every year is kind of the same, there are a lot of positive reactions from people and still kind of some negative reaction,” she said. “But this year, we have a lot more positive reaction with Kesha. A lot of classmates have said they already bought their tickets on the first or second day of ticket sales.”

Aside from the concert and the Saturday festivities, there is a Friday activity that Kwon believes is often overlooked. This year’s Friday event is a paint party on Erickson Field that is free and open to everyone.

“There is going to be a cannon and people will be throwing paint at you and there’s going to be a DJ playing music. So, it’s just a party theme,” said Kwon.

If that didn’t paint the perfect picture, Angela Esposito, senior graphic design major, who is head of Design and Marketing at (seb) compared the paint party to a scene from a 2000 Hollywood film. She said, “It’s like the movie Sandra Bullock is in, Miss Congeniality, when they all go out to the bar and they’re throwing paint…Yeah, it’s gonna be like that.”

Photo: Courtesy of Patrick Alejandro

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