Fest to relieve symptoms of spring fever

Brittany Westerberg

Brittany Westerberg

Despite the spring snowstorm, spring fever is in the air at SDSU. Students are out in lighter clothes, enjoying the warmer temperatures as they look forward to summer.

To celebrate the end of the school year and the beginning of summer, the University Program Council and the Residence Hall Association are co-sponsoring the second annual Spring Fever Fest on May 1 in the Performing Arts Center in order to “help end the semester with a bang!,” according to its Facebook event description.

“This year we wanted to step up everything: the entertainment, the attendance and also the students’ roles in coordinating,” UPC showcase coordinator Brady Mallory said.

The Fest will begin with a barbecue meal served at 5 p.m. with the country group The Well Hungarians providing entertainment. The Well Hungarians were called the 2006 Country Band of the Year by New Music Weekly Magazine Awards, according to the band’s Web site – www.wellhungarians.net – and the River Front Times of St. Louis, Mo., voted them Best Traditional Country Band of 2007. The meal costs $6; meal plans and Hobo Dough will be accepted. The rest of the events are free.

At 6 p.m., illusionist Craig Karges will perform. He was described as, “Not only a magician and illusionist, Karges is an all-around entertainer and even comedic at times,” in Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Horizons on April 16, 2007. He has appeared on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno and on “Larry King Live;” CNN “Headline News” said, “Craig Karges is the king of college campus entertainment.” The nation’s largest collegiate organization for student activities, the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA), named Karges Campus Entertainer of the Year six times, and Karges also won NACA’s Variety Performer of the Year award for a record-shattering twelve consecutive years, according to his Web site, www.craigkarges.com.

At 7 p.m., comedian Hal Sparks will entertain the crowd. Sparks was on the TV show “Queer as Folk,” VH1’s “I Love the 70s/80s/90s” and has also played Zoltan from Dude, Where’s My Car. According to his Web site, halsparks.com, a lot of his show focuses on his “obsession with the intersection of pop culture and how we speak in this county and the blood soaked wreckage that ensues.”

To wrap up the event, the movie Step Up 2: The Streets will be shown at 8:30 p.m.

The Spring Fever Fest was originally supposed to be at Sylvan Green, but due to the ten inches of snow on April 25 and the possibility of rain on Thursday, the event has been moved to the PAC. The move means that there will no longer be any inflatable games, but the rest of the entertainment is to go on as scheduled.

“The event ? promises to be an amazing way to end the school year,” Mallory said. “Students should come to this event because it is a chance to interact with their peers one last time before the summer break, and it is a great time to blow off any stress that is caused by classes. The entertainment is very strong this year, and I think students owe it to themselves to take a break and enjoy a free event.”