The first Spring Fling since before COVID was a complete success to say the least. This all-day, two part event brought us a sense of normality, unity, and excitement on the Binghamton campus that was much needed after those long, cold winter months.
The festival portion of Spring Fling was hosted on the Peace Quad and along the Spine and featured a plethora of carnival rides and food trucks. I think we can all agree that fair food is by far the most elite cuisine, especially the funnel cake! The smell of fried Oreos and taste of fresh lemonade brought us all back to our childhood as we watched our friends race up the rock wall or down the super slide.
One of the most engaging parts of the festival, however, was to see all of the Binghamton organizations tabling along the spine. The Food Co-op was serving homemade kombucha, the Art Museum was handing out piraguas (Puerta Rican shaved ice), our newest addition to the Binghamton community, the Zeta Tau Alpha fraternity, distributed pink ribbons for breast cancer awareness, and the Student Association Programming Board (SAPB) was even giving away free tote bags and plushies to early birds. Shoutout to all the clubs tabling at Spring Fling, we love to see the school spirit. Maybe next year you’ll see Her Campus tabling!
The second portion of the day was the Spring Fling Concert in the East Gym parking lot featuring Gunna, Social House, and our very own student band: The Plasters. Overall, there was an amazing turnout and the crowd was engaged throughout the whole concert. The Plasters got the crowd warmed up with some fantastic originals. Social House brought the energy and hyped up the crowd even more with Magic in the Hamptons! Furthermore, after much debate and speculation, Gunna did in fact show up. He made the trip all the way from Italy just to play for us! He put on an amazing show and it was so cool to see everyone’s phone flashlights in the crowd.
One issue to note though, was the safety during the concert. Many students have expressed that they felt unsafe in the mosh pit as everyone was being pushed around and, at times, to the ground. A special thank you to Harpur’s Ferry, the Binghamton University Police Department, Event Staff and Volunteers for working to keep everyone safe. Practicing crowd safety is important to keep in mind for future concerts so we can have a-list artists perform at Binghamton for years to come!
Overall, my friends and I had a blast at Spring Fling and can’t wait until next year! Shoutout to SAPB for putting in the countless hours to make this all possible for us to enjoy. We can’t wait to see what you have in store next.