Katie Armes
Linfield’s annual capstone festival will turn up its emphasis on music May 15 from 4-7 p.m. on the Intramural field. The event will feature two professional bands, jazz musician Jonathan Kingham and the country band Coyote Creek and many student musicians. Linfield clubs and Greek Life will also sponsor a variety of activities.
“We’re really excited about it because so rarely do we ever bring country [music] in,” former Vice President of Programming senior Kasey Richter said.
The main stage, which is created from an unfolding truck, was brought onto the IM field May 14. Kingham, Coyote Creek and Battle of the Bands winner Na Hemo will play on the stage.
Between the professional sets, student musicians will perform on a side stage. Kappa Sigma Fraternity is responsible for the six-hour set-up and take-down of the setting.
Most of the student musicians, including Tal Edman, Jason Molinaro and The Kickers, are seniors this year.
“It’s nice to give them their last hurrah,” Richter said.
Wildstock also features free food from Ribslayer, Chan’s Chinese Restaurant, Runaway Dog, El Primo Mexican Foods and 3rd Street Pizza. T-Shirts and bags will also be for sale.
“[Wildstock] has gotten a really good reputation during the past two years because we’ve incorporated the free food into it,” Richter said.
While the festival has featured more inflatable games and activities such as mechanical bulls in the past, this year Richter said she decided to focus on music. She said she chose to also combine the events into one day instead of dividing the entertainment over two nights.
“Wildstock always seems to change a little bit every year,” Richter said.
Other organizations on campus will supply additional entertainment. The Greenfield club is providing free henna tattoos, Sigma Kappa Phi Sorority will paint faces and S.H.A.P.E. club will bring in an obstacle course from the National Reserves.
Richter said attendance has been steady at about 800 people for the past two years. Although most people in attendance are Linfield students, some people come from the local community.
“We encourage faculty to bring their families if they want to,” Richter said.
Richter has been planning Wildstock since the beginning of the semester but faced a last-minute challenge about a week and a half ago when one of the three professional bands she booked for the event dropped out.
“We just decided we weren’t going to sweat it,” Richter said.
Instead, Na Hemo will play a full 45-minute set on the professional stage to celebrate its title as Battle of the Bands champions.