Chilifest is a Texas Music Festival in the Brazos Valley that has raised millions of dollars for local charities, but for most college students it isn’t about the music (or chili) as much as it is about the insane partying that takes place all weekend long. Many organizations have elaborate and creative themes for their build space in the festival. We had the opportunity this week to catch up with Shawn Breedlove, the Chilifest Coordinator for an organization, on what it takes to make the magic of Chilifest happen.
Yes, this is him, not just an ad for a suit company. (Photo taken by Jonathan Mitchell)
Her Campus Texas A&M: What stages have you gone through planning your event with chilifest? Have there been any obstacles you had to overcome?
Shawn Breedlove: Planning Chilifest has been done in four successive sequences—Design, Source, Build, and Assemble/Order. Chilifest has been arguably one of the hardest events to plan for during my time here at Texas A&M. The risk of low turnout and being left financially “holding the bag” were paramount concerns at the forefront of all of the planning stages. Good reliable turnout to building and getting guys to show up were some of the largest obstacles I faced. People I have found are naturally lazy and not engaged mentally. Incentives to working—I found—were great motivators to producing reliable turnout. I have personally dealt with over $16,000 in either cash or Venmo, which was a huge challenge to be the person in charge of that amount of money in such a short amount of time. Efficient allocation of resources and decisions were also a large challenge, as was figuring out how to design and build, in the most cost effective way. I have been the Accountant, Engineer, Businessperson, Salesperson, Production Scheduler, and Marketing person for this entire process.
HC TAMU: Geez, that’s a lot of positions! Is this your first year working on Chilifest? If no, what did you learn from previous years?
Breedlove: This is my first year truly working on Chilifest. I helped transport materials last year to the build site last year. What I learned from last year was honestly, nothing. The past Chilifest chair was not the best about keeping ANY records or true advice on what should be done and when. I have had to figure out all of this on the fly as I went along. Very Stressful.
HC TAMU: Do you plan on being a part of Chilifest’s process again in the future?
Breedlove: Yes! I would not like to lead again but I would LOVE to play a big role in helping build. I wished that I had a person I could ask questions to and guidance from and I didn’t have it. I don’t want that to ever happen again to anyone in my position. I’ll be there from start to finish next year under the leadership of someone new!
HC TAMU: What was your favorite part of working the process?
Breedlove: My favorite part was the sense of brotherhood and accomplishment that I could share with all of my friends. Working together to build something great is one of the greatest feelings in the world. There’s something extremely humanistic in the share collective spirit of building together.
HC TAMU: Your theme this year is Game of Thrones. What have y’all done to incorporate this theme into your build?
Breedlove: Game of Thrones is an amazing show and one of my personal favorites. We have built structures resembling the iron throne, a stockade, and a gallows, as well as the front of the build being two large 12-foot walls and four square towers. We have painted banners similar to the ones used in the show and we have foam swords to allow people to play-fight like Jon Snow!
HC TAMU: What are you most looking forward to about Chilifest?
Breedlove: What I’m most looking forward to is watching everyone have a good time. I’m a really happy caring guy; I like to see others happy and I want everyone to have a great time. I want to look around and see guys and girls having fun, as long as I see smiles. All of this hardship and work is worthwhile.
Look for Shawn Breedlove and his magnificent Game of Thrones themed “Castle Blackout” this weekend at Chilifest in Rows C&D 9-10!