Whoopstock will celebrate its 10th anniversary Saturday, continuing the tradition that started in 1993 as a festival of unity to oppose a Klu Klux Klan rally.
This year’s festival will be held on O.R. Simpson Drill Field and will feature a variety of bands, dancers and ethnic cuisines.
The festival hopes to become an important tradition at Texas A&M, said Dr.Marisa Suhm, adviser for the Whoopstock event.
“We want to grow, come into our own,” she said. “We want to establish ourselves as a tradition at A&M.”
The first Whoopstock was organized in only two weeks and featured four bands and seven student performances, with approximately 400 students attending.
During the next several years, the event grew larger as the interest level rose from the community, said Megan Palsa, assistant director of Multicultural Services.
“I definitely think the event has grown,” she said. “Whoopstock brings about an awareness of our community.”
Director of Multicultural Services Dr. Felicia Scott said she hopes Whoopstock will establish an understanding of other cultures.
“More participation from the local community creates an awareness,” she said.
Scott said she remembers the circumstances that resulted in the first Whoopstock and marvels at its continued success.
“The biggest impact is that it continues to happen without an event to react to,” Scott said.
Whoopstock attendance has grown the past few years. For the past two years, attendance has grown to more than 2,000 people.
Suhm said she hopes the event will attract another crowd of between 2,000 and 3,000 people.
Organizers said they do not expect the current war with Iraq to cause people to stay home, but it may bring more people out.
“I don’t think (the war) will affect turnout,” Suhm said. “Just because we are at war doesn’t mean we can’t be united.”