With less than two weeks until the festivities begin, the Traditions committee of the DU Programming Board is making its final preparations for May Days, a series of events spanning May 15-25 to celebrate spring and offer students a chance to relax prior to finals.
Working with a budget of approximately $30,000, May Days will incorporate a number of returning favorites, such as the Fanny Pack Fun Run and the pancake breakfast, as well as several new items, ranging from Food Truck Tuesday to the Festival of Colors.
“We have big traditions every quarter, with Homecoming in the fall and Winter Carnival in the winter, so that leaves spring,” said Richard Maez, co-chair of Traditions. “May Days is really to get students’ minds off of finals.”
The main events commence Monday, May 20, with the May Days Carnival, lasting 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Driscoll Green.
“We’ll have carnival games hosted by student organizations, we’ll have a caricature artist and we’ll have inflatables,” said Maez. “A big hit last year was the corn dogs and funnel cakes, so those will be back, too.”
Food Truck Tuesday follows on May 21, incorporating five local food vendors: The Denver Cupcake Truck, Vegan Van, The Tasterie Truck, Pink Tank and Wafflegänger. Several of the trucks will rotate around campus throughout the day, predominantly in the vicinity of Driscoll Green and the Josef Korbel School of International Studies.
On Wednesday, May 22, DUPB will partner with Hawaii Club to put on a traditional Hawaiian luau, including a pig roast, barbeque and a hula show. There will also be shaved ice available to students during the day.
“The luau was a huge hit last year, so we’re really excited to bring that back,” said Maez.
Thursday will include everything from a pancake breakfast to a farmers’ market in partnership with the DU Environmental Team, topped off by a showing of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” on Driscoll Green.
The Fanny Pack Fun Run will be the major event on Friday, hosted in partnership with the DU club cross-country team and followed by DU’s first Festival of Colors.
“It’s like the Color Run, but instead of doing it during the run, it will be afterwards on Carnegie Green,” said Maez. “You’ll get packets of colors to throw up in the air, and it will be like a celebration of spring.”
The capstone of May Days will be MusicFest, spanning from 4-11 p.m. on Saturday, May 25. The Head and the Heart and Mayer Hawthorne will headline the event, performing at 6 p.m. in Magness Arena. Prior to that, there will be outdoor concerts, a tailgate and a beer garden in the Ritchie Courtyard.
“The goal of MusicFest this year is to create a tradition around bringing in some major talent annually for students to look forward to as part of their DU experience,” said Sam Estenson, co-chair of DUPB Concerts. “We recognize this is a pilot year in some ways for that, but we are confident it’s going to be a major success and hope everyone will come out to be part of the experience.”
While there are still tickets available, Estenson estimated they would sell out before the day of the event and encouraged students to plan ahead and buy their tickets early.
“Part of having a concert of this magnitude on campus is people can’t wait until the last second like they normally might have in the past,” said Estenson. “We’re bigger and better than ever, and just like other major concerts we hope students know they should be buying their tickets ahead of time and getting excited.”
According to Maez, one of the biggest changes with this year’s May Days is the number of student organizations DUPB is partnering with. In addition to Hawaii Club, DUET and club cross-country, Traditions has also joined forces with the Asian Student Alliance (ASA) and the Native Student Alliance (NSA) for several events leading up to May Days.
Working in conjunction with ASA, the official kickoff to May Days will be Expressions on May 15, a celebration of Asian culture during ASA’s Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. Four days later, DUPB is partnering with NSA for their annual pow wow, which will take place from 1-6 p.m. on Driscoll Green on May 19.
“May Days is just a celebration that spring is here and we’re almost done,” said Maez. “We want students to have a good time. This is a time to rest and have some fun before finals.”
