Goodbye UPC spring concert, hello festival
Sarah Lagro / Intern Writer
This spring, UNT students will get a music festival instead of a single concert as North by North Texas makes its debut.
Denton already hosts a few music festivals throughout the year, like the Denton Arts & Jazz Festival and the Denton Blues Festival, but The University Program Council wanted to give North by North Texas a more personal touch.
“UPC decided to do North by North Texas because both UNT and Denton are so passionate about music and we wanted to give students an opportunity to experience some local music here on campus,” UPC local music coordinator Blake Pollard said.
Pollard said North by North Texas is still in its planning phase and a date and venue have not been specified, but the festival will feature one stage and acts from multiple genres. Last year’s UPC Spring Concert brought indie artist Best Coast and rap artists Bas and J. Cole to the UNT campus. The festival idea may lessen the tension of having multiple genres at one show, after Best Coast was booed during their performance.
“Hip-hop is my favorite genre. I dig J. Cole and was really excited when he headlined,” finance sophomore Michael Banda said. “I definitely love that I got to see one of my favorite artists for free.”
UPC hosts an array of events like movie screenings, bingo and Eagle Insomnia. Though UPC’s committees plan events separately, they plan to come together for North by North Texas.
“An event this size takes a lot of planning and manpower,” UPC member Jon Hernandez said. “Our usual events require maybe six members, but events like Eagle Insomnia and the music festival will be all hands on deck.”
No artists or acts have been booked to play the festival yet, but UPC is in the process of finding and contracting artists. Students can suggest artists to play North by North Texas by contacting UPC.
“I would love to see OneRepublic or maybe The Fray,” College Inn resident assistant Briana Reyna said. “I wanted OneRepublic to come last year.”
Pollard is excited for the festival and hopes it becomes an annual festival.
“We hope that in future years the event grows in size with the possibility of multiple stages and even more acts featured,” Pollard said.
Featured Image: New Voodoo plays a costume party at Hailey’s last semester. File Photo by Byron Thompson – Senior Staff Photographer
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