Spring Fest Recap 2023

Graphic by Jaylynn Glaus

For those of you who missed the festivities of Spring Fest last week, we have created this handy dandy recap that goes over all the fun events from the fest put on by Kirby Student Center.

Merch Monday

Kicking off the week of Spring Fest, Kirby hosted “Merch Monday” in The Garage. There were plenty of free options to choose from including pint glasses, can koozies, tote bags and even hats, all branded the Spring Fest logo for the year - created by  Kirby’s graphic designer Jaylynn Glaus. But if you were feeling extra springy this year, the board was also offering t-shirts with the same Spring Fest logo for $5. Although the event started at 1 p.m., students started the line around 10 a.m. that morning to guarantee their free merch. By 4 p.m. everything was out; the cups and hats went first then the totes and koozies were next! The shirts didn’t sell out on Monday but were all gone by the end of the week.  Based on the amount of merch Kirby ordered, around 250 students showed up to this event. It has been over a week since Spring Fest has ended but seeing people with all their merch makes it feel like the festivities never have to end! 

Top the tater Tuesday

While Top-the-Tater Tuesday might not have had the overwhelming line that Merch Monday had, it was still quite popular.  After a couple hours, the Kirby Student center was filled with students snacking on dip and chips.  Almost every table was populated by a group of students and at least one boat, formerly containing savory snacks!

Wednesday Night live

Students wait for comedian Lucas Zelnick in the Kirby Ballroom. Photo by. Ben Carpenter

Wednesday night UMD students got the chance to laugh and listen to comedy at Spring Fest’s “Wednesday Night Live,” put on by the UMD Kirby Program Board, featuring comedian Lucas Zelnick. The show opened with North Dakota native John Kennedy, whose comedy consisted of stories about recently living in New York City to jokes about trying shrimp for the first time at a college party. After Kennedy’s set,  Zelnick took the stage. He entertained the audience with stories ranging from bad dates with women to jokes about his family members, along with using body and physical humor to make the audience laugh. The show gave students the chance to “take the night off” from life by letting loose and hearing some funny stories and jokes. Both Kennedy and Zelnick are New York-based comedians and this was the first time the two performed a set together. Kennedy has been performing standup for about seven years and Zelnick has been performing for about three. You can check out Kennedy on his Instagram @johnhenrykennedy, and you can check out Zelnick on his Instagram @lucaszelnick. 

ball fest — dodgeball tournament

UMD’s Spring Fest was brought to a close on Friday with the Kirby Program Board’s dodgeball tournament. Teams from all walks of student life came out to compete for the title and bragging rights of “tournament champions.” Hydration tables in the corners of Romano Gym offered the teams ways to stay in the game as they went head-to-head with each other until there was only one team left standing. Congratulations to the players representing the UMD Football team for winning it all!

Congrats to the UMD Football team! Photo by. Lukas Lorenz