By By: Kate Luce
Co-Editor-in-Chief
After a year-long hiatus, River Fest made its unexpected debut back at IU South Bend on April 21. Despite the cold, this year’s event featured two live performances, goodie bags in celebration of IU Day and a free lunch by Sodexo.
Students could RSVP for a table at Greenlawn, or they could pull up drive-through style. They could listen to the concert in the comfort of their own car, by tuning their radio to 98.1.
“Actually, my friend Shina told me about it, and I heard there was free food, so you know we had to come,” Elizabeth Turpin, student attendee, said.
“When I found out, I was like, ‘we might as well go’ because we have never been to it before, and here we are,” Shania Le, student attendee, said.
Scott Strittmatter, director of Housing and Student Life, said that River Fest has seen snow and poor weather in years before. In years prior, if that was the case, the event was moved to the SAC. However due to COVID-19 guidelines and a HealthLinc vaccine clinic setting up in the SAC, the event had to take place on Greenlawn. As they say, the show must go on. Both The Icarus Account and Arts Fishing Club performed for a full hour.
The Icarus Account has performed at IU South Bend’s River Fest in the past. The Florida-based duo was not used to the weather, but they thought their show went well.
“I thought it went amazing. We rolled through the snow. It was definitely crazy. That is something we actually never dealt with. Our fingers, we warmed them up in between the show. It was a really fun show,” Trey Turner of The Icarus Account said.
Event-booking and shows are kicking back up for the band.
“We started last month, a few schools in Florida booked us last month. This is maybe our sixth show of the year. It’s starting to pick back up,” Ty Turner of The Icarus Account said.
To support The Icarus Account, follow @theicarusaccount on instagram and twitter. Visit their website theicarusaccount.com to shop and stay up to date on their tour dates. Lastly, you can listen to the duo on all streaming services.
For Arts Fishing Club, this was also their first time performing in the snow. However, the Nashville-based band enjoyed their performance at IU South Bend.
“We got booked by NACA, it’s kind of like a showcasing conference. Y’all have a student board that came to the conference, and they saw our music, enjoyed it, and decided to bring us on over here,” Christopher Kessenich of Arts Fishing Club said.
“I thought it went really well. I thought it was super fun. I have played in some pretty cold situations in the past,” Jimi Greene of Arts Fishing Club said.
To support Arts Fishing Club, follow @artsfishingclub on Instagram. Visit their website artsfishingclub.com for merch. Arts Fishing Club is available on all streaming services.
While this event rounds off the spring 2021 semester, more is in store for the fall. Check out Titan Atlas for the latest updates on events throughout IU South Bend.
