| Location(s) | UC San Diego |
|---|---|
| Years active | 1984 - present |
| Founded by | Associated Students of UCSD |
| Date(s) | Mid-May |
| Genre | Hip-hop, Rock, Electro |
| Website | sungodfestival.ucsd.edu |
The Sun God Festival is an annual campus festival at The University of California, San Diego that usually takes place on the Friday of the seventh week during spring quarter. Beginning in the early afternoon and running throughout the evening until midnight, the festival is produced by the Associated Students Concerts & Events office and paid for by the students with an activity fee. The festival contains a fair, as well as multiple stages which feature art performances, DJ performances, and a mix of underground/indie bands and mainstream groups. All of this occurs on RIMAC Field.[1] The main stage is traditionally opened by the winner of the Battle of the Bands at UCSD.[2]
The festival's name references the Sun God, an on-campus statue by French artist Niki de Saint Phalle (1930–2002). The Sun God was the first contribution to the famous Stuart Collection. The first Sun God Festival coincided with the one-year anniversary of the statue's arrival in 1984.[3][4] The festival's original location was adjacent to the statue, but it has since grown and moved numerous times, from Price Center to the now-demolished Mile High Field, to its current location on the RIMAC field.
The festival and concert provide an opportunity for students to enjoy themselves after midterm examinations. Campus police, reinforced by other San Diego Police Department officers, have in the past stepped up enforcement with plain clothes officers and random open-container checks.[5]
The festival/fair portion of Sun God consists of booths made for the most part by student organizations. Booths are organized into food, information, game, etc. In addition, the Junkyard Derby down hill race typically takes place on the day of the Sun God Festival, where students, faculty, and any combination of the two can form groups to create downhill racers made from old/junkyard parts.[2]
Sun God Festival has consistently seen max capacity attendance numbers the previous 3-5 years. Likely due to the increase in stage talent ASCE of UCSD has been able to book.
Sun God 2011 saw a record turnout of over 20,000 attendees. All student and guest wristbands were sold-out. [6] In addition, first-come, first-served student wristband distribution which occurred a day before the festival, saw all 17,000 student wristbands being handed out in less than a day.
|
|||||||||||||||||||