MSC Town Hall’s annual event, Rocktoberfest, provides unique entertainment opportunities for students, artists and participants alike.
Put on by the special events subcommittee, or SpEv, Rocktoberfest is a Halloween-themed event including live music, snacks and pumpkin carving. The event will take place on Thursday, Oct. 28, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Rudder Plaza. Student rock band Push to Start will be playing throughout the event, and admission is free.
In regards to the purpose of their organization, chemical engineering senior and MSC Town Hall special events executive Isabella Lopez said the organization is focused on bringing a variety of live entertainment to campus.
“I started my spring semester, freshman year,” Lopez said. “I found out about it through a friend, and I’ve been in it ever since. I love being able to create shows and help execute them and see how my hard work turns into success a lot of times.”
Since there are so many MSC Committees, MSC Town Hall vice chair and senior Gracie Tinsley said Town Hall has been labeled the live music organization, but they organize much more than just music.
“We have done comedy in the past, we did a drag show and we try to diversify our music tastes, so country, rock and rap even,” Tinsely said. “We do different series such as our coffee house series, our special events or large-scale events, and of course, the 12th Jam music festival.”
In addition to other events, Lopez said her subcommittee handles all of the planning for Rocktoberfest.
“We start off with booking the venues,” Lopez said. “Then, we book a band, looking into student and local bands out there that fit with the vibe of the event we’re planning, then look into pumpkins because we will have 80 pumpkins at the event for the audience to carve. We look into different vendors of pumpkins and then gather snacks and work out all the fine tuning details of the event.
For the live music portion of the event, Tinsely said Push to Start was selected to perform in order to promote student bands.
“They’re a new local rock band made up of college students,” Tinsley said. “How we choose most of our talent is by word of mouth because we really strive to give college students a platform before having to reach out further because it can be harder when you’re new and inexperienced to find gigs and you really just want to play music.”
Though she also enjoys all kinds of music, chemical engineering senior and MSC Town Hall special events subcommittee member Carolina Kane said there is just something special about live music.
“I think live music just lets people kind of unwind in a way that just listening to music on your speaker or your phone doesn’t,” Kane said. “It really makes you focus on the music, enjoy yourself and let go of anything else that’s happening in your life. I think that’s really important for college students since we’re all pretty busy and stressed out at times. It’s going to be chill vibes for people to come hang out and enjoy themselves.”
Excited for the event, Tinsley said it will serve as a way to get into the fall spirit before Halloween.
“It’s just a really fun event to kind of get your fall festivities going,” Tinsely said. “I would definitely encourage people to come. I know it’s kind of awkward sometimes to get on campus that late, but it is all completely free and just for fun.”
