ATHENS PREPARES FOR FEST SEASON
BY SOPHIA ROOKSBERRY PHOTOS BY GABRIELLE CABANES
At Ohio University, spring weekends offer students a reprieve from preparing for final exams and summer internships. During these weeks of studying and applying, students also get to prepare for a much less stressful aspect of college life: Fest Season.
Fest season is an important facet of OU culture and preparing for the weekend festivities allows students to safely make the most of the celebrations. Jack Greene, a senior studying journalism, has learned through experience which weekends are the best of the semester.
“Mill is one of the better ones because everyone has been so cooped up inside for so long, and the weather is … usually sunny and kind of warm, but it’s finally this moment where everyone can be outside celebrating getting through winter,” Greene said.
Fest goers enjoy music and great weather
One of the fraternities involved in this year’s Mill Fest was Theta Chi. Joey Bevack, a sophomore studying finance, is the social chair of the frat which will also host parties for High, Athens, and Palmer Fests.
“Before everyone got there … we fenced off the whole backyard so everyone could stay there and no one was wandering off,” Bevack said. “Then we set up speakers … and cleared out the area too so no one was bumping into anything.”
In addition to handling the social planning and helping with day-of logistics, Bevack was responsible for watching over the party and making sure everything ran smoothly.
“We have people walking around our events making sure everyone is okay,” he said. “We have a bunch of them, people might not notice them but there are people watching … because if you are doing something that is illegal or something that is wrong, you will be escorted out.”
The other agents of fest safety are the Athens and OU police departments. Nick Magruder is the Chief of Police for the APD and has been a witness to Fest Season for nearly two decades, both as a student and member of law enforcement.
“(Fests) used to be a nightmare to work,” he said. “It was out of control, it went until 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning. In 2011 and 2012, we had some incidents and moved forward to how we do fests now … it is 10 times less chaotic than it used to be.”
Although preparing for fests used to be an arduous process – one that involved the state patrol and dozens of extra officers – the preparations have become less intense in recent years. Now with less concern from the officers about dealing with riot behavior, they focus more on being proactive and reading the energy of the crowd.
“We’re not here to break up fests and not allow people to have them, but we have to allow it to some point … and get a feel for the crowd and make a decision when it’s time to settle down, before it gets out of control,” Magruder said.
The police department also prioritizes stopping problematic behavior on the individual level.
“We’re going to go around and let people know when they’re getting out of control,” Magruder said. “We want to give people warnings. Obviously there’s some overt things that are going to happen … but we’re going to be focusing on little things that build up, I’m talking about public urination, disorderly conduct, fights, underage drinking.”
In addition to the list of things Magruder (and the law) advises against doing, the police chief believes coordinating a plan with friends is incredibly important, especially with those visiting from out of town. Greene recommended packing food and water on fest day, as well as physically and mentally preparing.
“Don’t wear the nicest clothes because they’re going to get dirty,” Greene said. “Be prepared for a lot of fun, but also just be prepared for stuff to happen … the bad, the good, and the ugly can always happen.”
Despite city-wide warnings against the potential dangers of fests, Greene still emphasized the positive side of the tradition.
Students enjoy the fest-ivities of High Fest
“These four years are so limited and it’s so much fun,” he said. “You’ll never be able to do this again in your life. There’s no other opportunity where you get to just go out and spend the entire day out partying in someone's yard.”
This passion for fests is shared by both party goers like Greene and party throwers like Bevack.
“My number one goal is just getting everyone together, no matter what your race is, what your gender is, what you believe in, even if you’re from another school … as long as you’re of age, just getting everyone together, having a good time, listening to good music [is the goal],” Bevack said.
