The 47th annual Spring Fair brought food, vendors and local musicians to Homewood Campus this past weekend.
Like previous years, this year’s Spring Fair included food and craft vendors as well as carnival-style rides.
Some questioned the choice of Earl Sweatshirt as one of the two headlining musicians at this year’s concert.
Many people enjoyed the festivities, including senior Jose Solis. He said he enjoyed his time at Spring Fair, emphasizing the variety of activities.
“All the seniors just get to hang out and have a good time, and the food is always a pleasure,” he said.
Class of 2017 alumnus Aisa Moreno also enjoyed the fair.
“It’s also just nice to see a lot of alumni come back,” she said.
Spring Fair also attracts many members of the wider Baltimore community. Faith Shan, a senior at Loyola, has come to Spring Fair several times. She commented on how this year’s Spring Fair was different from last year’s because of the reopening of the Keyser Quad.
“I know last year the main quad where the art vendors are was closed, so I like how it’s so open again and it’s not as packed,” she said.
Freshman Sam Schatmeyer, a member of the Spring Fair marketing committee, discussed the event’s success in an email to The News-Letter. He addressed the changes made this year, including the addition of craft beers and specialty wines to the Beer Garden.
“We try to make each Fair better than the last, and we think this year was no exception,” Schatmeyer wrote.
This year’s concert featured rapper Earl Sweatshirt and EDM duo Krewella and took place at Rams Head Live!, a concert venue in Inner Harbor.
Harrison Elliot, who is part of the Spring Fair music committee, explained why they chose Earl Sweatshirt in an email to The News-Letter.
“This year, we wanted to find a couple artists we believed people knew and liked and could put on a great show,” he wrote. “We chose Earl because he is a younger up-and-coming artist in the business, and several of us on the committee believed he could do a great job with some of his older material and songs he has been working on.”
Elliot elaborated on why the music committee chose Krewella.
“We believed they know how to put on a great show. They’re relatively young and, as many concert-goers attested to, they knew the songs we liked and put their spin on it,” he wrote. “As a result, people really enjoyed the concert and we hope to find artists next year who can put on a great show.”
According to Schatmeyer, the concert was a success and impressed those who attended.
“The concert was a blast. Earl played some unreleased tracks, and fans who went had the unique experience to hear some verses no one else ever had,” he wrote. “Those who attended definitely came out satisfied with the evening’s hype.”
Freshman Christopher Caputo, however, did not enjoy Earl Sweatshirt’s performance, adding that the crowd seemed disappointed in it as well.
“It was so bad. Everyone was just standing there not moving,” he said. “Krewella was a little bit more turnt though. People got into it, and there was some bouncing up and down.”
Senior Thomas Athey agreed, though he said he still enjoyed the performance overall. In an email to The News-Letter, Athey reflected on his experience at the concert.
“I don’t think [Earl Sweatshirt] particularly connected with the crowd, but I still enjoyed it. Earl is clearly not all about fame and glamour, and I think my friends who are rap nerds will respect me for going,” Athey wrote. “When Krewella came on, the crowd tightened and things started jumping.”
Freshman Alex Eremiev attended the concert because upperclassmen had told him that past years’ concerts were fun. Though he wasn’t familiar with the headlining artists, he said that he still enjoyed the event.
“I don’t know the artists super well, but I thought it would be good to go out and listen to some music and dance, so I wasn’t really worried about who was playing that much,” he said.
Elliot further addressed questions about changes in security. During last year’s Spring Fair, some students had expressed concerns about safety during the concert because of the large crowds. In response to this, the Spring Fair organizers had the JHMI shuttle operate before and after the concert and provided students with Lyft ride codes they could use to get to and from the concert venue for free if shuttles were unavailable.
“Last year, we did experience quite a large crowd, but Rams Head expected this and adjusted their security and on site EMTs as necessary,” Elliot wrote. “The staff over at Rams Head are professionals in this business and know what is needed for any type of show, so we fully and completely trust their judgement.”
A variety of local and non-local bands also played sets on the Beach throughout Spring Fair weekend.
Though Athey said he enjoyed these performances, he wished that more students could have been chosen to perform.
“The musical performances are pretty high quality, but I wish the committee put more effort to get Hopkins bands to perform, because I know they’re out there,” he wrote.
He also commented on how much he enjoyed Spring Fair this year because of the wide variety of activities that were available.
“I have had a great Spring Fair this year,” he wrote, “I am glad I made a rough itinerary in my head of what I wanted to do because there are so many wonderful performances, vendors, student club events and parties. The highlight has been getting together with friends to experience Spring Fair together.”
