One thing is for sure, if you aren’t familiar with Texas State University, somehow you know about Sewell Park and the importance it holds for the community. Sewell is a safe space for many on campus and is the perfect spot to take a deep breath and unwind next to the water alone or with friends. Many colleges have graduation traditions and Sewell is the home to where Texas State University graduates’ tradition takes place. After graduation, you are supposed to jump in the river to celebrate accomplishing your long-awaited goal of graduating.
River Fest is a tradition started in 2003 by The Student Association for Campus Activities (SACA). Since the event takes place at Sewell, it is made to allow Texas State students to relax before finals and enjoy quality time with friends, good music, and food. River Fest paused in 2017 when Gaillardia Fest was introduced, which didn’t draw in as many visitors as the previous River Fest did. In 2024, SACA brought the tradition back for students to experience, allowing students the opportunity to experience first hand the fun festival after years of not having it on such a big scale, which was something that excited many.
River Fest is known for bringing big names to perform such as Ying Yang Twins and The Eli Young Band to name a few, along with allowing local artists and bands a chance to perform before the big final act at the end of the night. This year’s artist that SACA was able to book was Tyga, a well-known rapper with many hits to his name. There was immediate interest around campus the minute word spread that a big name such as Tyga was going to be performing at our school. Entrance to the festival was free, but the event was only open to current Texas State students who showed a valid student ID. With the immense talk about the festival, many students voiced interest in attending as it was out of the norm for our school to get such a big name, and this was the start of the chaos.
The Calm Before The Storm:
Two days before the event was about to take place, SACA and security worked to start barricading off the perimeter of Sewell in preparation for such a big event. The excitement for everyone started to grow more and more as the days grew closer to the event taking place. When driving by the park, students could see the stages being built as they passed by the river, hinting that the event was around the corner. It was hard to walk around on campus or go on social media without seeing something about Tyga coming to campus and people trying to get groups together to go see the concert with them.
The day finally came of the event and the campus was looking emptier than usual, as many people wanted to pregame or get ready earlier to participate in the side festivities they had available for students to do for free. There were many vendors and food trucks set up near the river. It almost resembled the vibes of a county fair, which was a new sight for many to see considering the river is primarily only filled with picnic blankets and a parking lot of cars.
There were three entrances available to enter the park through and many started arriving earlier than the start time of 3 p.m. in the hopes of getting a close view of the stage. My friends and I arrived at the event around 3:30 p.m. to get in line and noticed it was already immensely packed, but nothing out of the norm because students typically sit in the park after classes and relax. So, the huge crowd didn’t immediately catch me off guard. The school did a good job of setting up security at each entrance to check students’ bags to ensure it was a safe event and we would all get home in one piece, little did they know the stuff students would bring in would be the least of their worries.
The Main Attraction:
I was able to set up a picnic blanket next to the stage and relax and watch the opening acts. I was also able to calmly make my way to a perfect spot at the side of the barricade without feeling smooshed or overwhelmed and still had space to dance with friends to the good music provided by the performers.
As the hours grew closer to Tyga’s expected performance time, the crowd grew bigger and bigger each minute. It went from no one being on the side of me to my entire back and side being shoulder-to-shoulder with others. Texas is known for being on the hotter side and the weather that day did not steer away from that, with constant sun glaring on your back for hours while you waited.
Leading up to the event a few days prior, it was sent out in our student emails to arrive early because students would not be allowed to re-enter the event after 7 p.m. to ensure that there wouldn’t be overcrowding of students. Additionally, it would be a safety hazard with the river being the only thing separating a huge crowd of students from the other side of the grassy area. The lines grew longer with many becoming irritated with the wait and just wanting to be inside, enjoying the fun along with their friends, resulting in cutting in line taking place. With the mix of heat and attitudes growing from the concerns of not being able to make it in before they cut off the line, the fences set up began to shake with anger from the guests. With it already being 7 p.m. and closer to Tyga’s set time, the anticipation and excitement grew higher inside and outside the event area. The shaking from the gates turned to immense pushing, leading to the collapse of the fence and many stampeding in to guarantee they got the chance to see Tyga like everyone else.
There were police on standby in the event that something took place, both for the students’ and performers’ protection, but I don’t think they expected it would turn into such a big event, as the tasks became harder for the amount of police to take care of with so much happening at once. With the stampeding in at one entrance, students jumping the fence at another, and consistent fainting and fights throughout the night, it was hard for the police assigned to dedicate their attention to the task properly, which added to the chaos.
Alcohol, heat, and excitement from college students are a mixture that doesn’t mix well, with numerous situations happening in every corner, which became an extremely overstimulating situation as you didn’t know where to focus your attention. With the influx of students rushing to the barricade, I got separated from my friends and ended up at the barricade alone with random people. I had to band together with strangers to protect each other from the pushing since our bodies were against the main barricade, separating everyone from the stage. The staff made announcements in the hopes that it would help calm the situation down and maybe be a wake-up call to students that if they don’t get their act together, the event might potentially get canceled, which caused immediate anger among the students.
Leading up to Tyga’s arrival they had a band from Dallas performing and students in the crowd began to shout obscure phrases in hopes it would make the openers leave faster so they could see who they came for. From my perspective as someone who is a dancer and in the same shoes as the performers, it was disheartening to hear them be booed after the band voiced their excitement to perform in front of such a big crowd for the first time.
After their performance ended, the time finally came. Tyga was about to come out to perform and the excitement level for the crowd was at its peak. With spotlights on, pointing to the center stage, Tyga walked out and the cheers roared from front to back. It turned from a small-level music festival to being similar to the vibe of a concert with how loud the screams and singing were. The crowd was loud in showing their love to Tyga for coming to Texas State and doing a free performance for them.
Tyga sang the majority of his discography, along with features, and even threw in some random songs such as “Gasolina” by Daddy Yankee to hype the crowd up even more, resulting in immense cheers from the start to finish off his set. Tyga finished his set so abruptly that I don’t think the crowd fully registered that he had left, as we all stayed standing in place, thinking he was coming back out to do more. SACA came out and made final remarks, thanking students for coming and safely guiding everyone out of the area to get us all home quickly and safely.
Overall Thoughts:
As someone who grew up with an older sister, I was very familiar with Tyga as I grew up listening to many of his songs and features. I believe many were in the same shoes as me, knowing more of his older songs versus his newer ones. I have never been to a music festival before, but have been to many concerts in a general admission setting–similar to how the layout was for River Fest. In the back of my head, I knew the event would draw in a big crowd, and tried to prepare myself for what I was getting into while standing at the barricade as the hours inched on. With the rush of students yelling, running, and fainting out near me, I became overstimulated quickly, finding myself spacing out from what was going on around me.
Sewell is known for being very peaceful and a place to relax, but that was not the case for this event. The event itself was extremely fun and I did find myself having a good time hanging out with my friends, eating snow cones, and dancing along to music from artists I had never heard before. The event had the potential to be a huge and safe event if there were more security around, allowing for better safety for the crowd.
If Texas State decides to continue this tradition again for other Bobcats later on, I hope they can take into consideration the pros and cons of this event and use them to their best advantage to help improve safety measures for the students, as the main con for me was the safety level. To alleviate the students jumping over the fences and the stampeding that took place, there could’ve been more entrances put into place so students weren’t getting frustrated about being stuck in such long lines. The pushing, fighting, and fainting from the overheating of such a tight closed space at times ruined the excitement level as my main focus went from having fun to making sure I protected myself so I could get home safely.
Compared to the many concerts I’ve been to, which varied in genre and crowd sizes, this festival ranked first in the chaotic level category of all the shows I have been to. SACA deserves a pat on the back and a round of applause for being able to handle everything on the spot so quickly, even while being under immense stress levels of organizing and overseeing the event, even while it was at its peak craziness. Texas State provided a fun event for students to celebrate the end of the semester and the tradition should continue, but with better regards to safety as a whole.
As a senior who doesn’t graduate until spring 2025, I could see myself attending River Fest but I would rather stand in the back of the crowd than be wedged in the middle like this past time. River Fest is still a hot topic being discussed on campus, showing just how much of an impact this event had on the community and the buzz it created.