Saturday, August 25, several Michigan based musicians, bands, and artists came to the Olivet College campus to play for the college’s first music festival. The artists who performed at the festival included Munch, Tiger and Frame, Soul Brother Stef, Modern Adventures, Michigander, Mikeyy Austin, Hope Waidley, and 3D Wright. Olivet college senior Zachary Oshinsky was the student who thought of the idea for the festival, and he believes the effort was a good move for the college and the town.
“Overall I think it was a success and step in right direction for the college and Olivet. A city like Olivet is not known for having events that appeal to a younger crowd,” said Oshinsky.
It was the lack of college student focused entertainment, even on the OC campus, that prompted Oshinsky to work with student activities and administrators to organize the music festival. It was a goal he’d been working toward since about Thanksgiving of 2017. In the end the festival was a team effort that provided the event with professional sound, lighting, and food.
“The people who came loved it,” said Oshinsky. “Tiger and Frame was shocked for a first year festival we were doing everything right.”
The tidiness and efficiency of the festival was not met equally with student attendance, however. Oshinsky and other students were disappointed by the lack of attendance to the festival.
“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink,” said Oshinsky. “We gave every opportunity to experience it.”
Oshinsky’s disappointment with the attendance wasn’t matched with bitterness. He was grateful for the musicians and students who came to the festival, as well as for the professionalism that drove the planning and operation of the festival. He hopes the music festival will continue in the coming years after he graduates from OC.
Ultimately Oshinsky believes the expression of art and music through entertainment is good for Olivet College and the surrounding areas. With the music festival he wanted to provide entertainment not only for students and the campus, but also for 20 somethings in the Marshall, Bellevue, and Charlotte areas. In the future he hopes the festival will be free of charge, better attended, and carried on by students trying to meet the needs of their peers on and off campus.
