One of Linfield University’s most treasured events is finally back on campus on May 7. 

Wildstock, a free concert for students put on by the student government, has long been a favorite for Wildcats. In recent history, the show has featured significant performers, including country music duo Dan & Shay in 2018 and hip-hop artist Marc E. Bassy in 2019. 

After a two-year COVID-19 hiatus, rapper Kyle will headline this year’s event. The 28-year old performer is best known for his 2016 hit single “iSpy”, which reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100, and has collaborated with multiple other well-known artists, such as Kehlani, Lil Yachty, G-Eazy, and Chance the Rapper. 

The opener will be Kid Quill, a rapper from Indiana with over 728,000 monthly listens on Spotify. (A fun fact: he attended and played soccer at DePauw University, another D-III liberal arts school in Indiana.)

The process of planning the event has been no small task. Sophomore Faith Sposito, ASLU’s vice president of programming, has been working on planning the concert since September. The headliner was picked back in December, solidified in January, and finally announced to students in April. 

Before the announcement, however, the decision was kept secret for months and was only known by Sposito and the organization’s supervisor. 

“In the past, [the artist decision has] gotten out and we really wanted to keep it a big surprise since we haven’t had a Wildstock in so long,” Sposito said. “From the beginning, we tried to keep it very confidential.”

Sposito said that students should expect food trucks, a dunk tank, club booths and multiple photo opportunities at the event, which will be held on the IM Field. 

The event will open at 5 p.m., with Kid Quill expected to start an hour later. Kyle will go on at 7:30 p.m. and the evening will end around 8:30.

“I’m really excited to see students get to enjoy this event,” Sposito said. “This has grown my leadership skills in massive ways. One of the reasons why I changed my major was in hopes to go into corporate event planning, so this job has opened up so many opportunities. It really has been the highlight of my time at Linfield.”