The third annual Bison Sound was held April 22 on Sojka Lawn. The campus event drew in over 1,000 attendees despite chilly weather.

The event was free for students and featured lawn games, tie dye, giveaways, food, and a beer garden while various musical acts performed on a stage at the front of the lawn, including University students Amarachi Ekekwe ’18, Mukta Phatak ’18, KP140, Lindsey Ferguson ’18, and The Wingmen.

“Many of the student bands here on campus emailed Bison Sound explaining their interest to perform,” Event Director Brooke Schechter ’20 said. “Many had performed at Bison Sound before or had performed at other events on campus.”

Two headlining bands from New York City, Del Water Gap and Lawrence, took to the stage in the middle of the event and drew large crowds of students.

Morgan Klein ’17 and William Frost ’18 organized the musical lineup and offered the Bison Sound committee various artists to choose from before making the final call.

“It’s always a long process to book bands for events at Bucknell because we want to make sure that we are booking talent that most–if not all–of the Bucknell community can enjoy,” Klein said. “I think we did a really great job with Del Water Gap and Lawrence this year.”

Samantha Camden ’20, who ran logistics with Sydney Myers ’20, said that the committee was fortunate to book Lawrence for a University event.

“They play at huge festivals all around NYC and New England, and we were so lucky to have them come,” Camden said.

“I thought Lawrence was fantastic,” Mitchell Petrimoulx ’18 said. “I’d never heard of them before and I think it’s great to hold events that help artists earn the recognition they deserve.”

While watching the performers, students enjoyed a variety of free food options, including corn dogs, soft pretzels, sliders, pigs in a blanket, meat and vegetable kabobs, ice-cream, funnel cake, and other festival foods. There was a beer garden for students 21 and up, offering four brands of alcohol.

According to Klein, the physical setup of the event was changed this year to better accommodate the space. The schedule of activities was also shifted slightly to focus Bison Sound in the late-afternoon and early-evening.

“I think we’re always learning, and that is really important,” Klein said. “Last year, we had our headliners at the end of the event and everyone had left for their Saturday evening activities already. Our beer garden was too small. Our stage was tucked to one side. So this year, we put our headliners right in the middle, we expanded the beer garden, and we pulled the stage right into the middle, and it worked. This year’s Bison Sound was significantly more successful than last year’s just because of those little changes.”

These types of decisions were part of a long-term planning and advertising process that extended throughout the semester. Nine students spearheaded the effort to make Bison Sound happen. Event funding came from Bucknell Student Government, the Interfraternity Council, WVBU, Uptown, the Dean of Students, and a specific Bison Sound account.

“We have been meeting once a week the entire second semester to go over what each team has to do during each week,” Schechter said. “Even outside of the once-a-week meetings, each team had extensive roles to do, like going to meetings with catering and events management, coming up with a marketing strategy, finding musical talents, and more.”

Lindsey Moy ’20 and Mike O’Neill ’17 were in charge of event marketing and managed the Bison Sound Instagram, Facebook event, posters, and other advertising.

“We really enjoyed getting students excited about the event though tabling in the LC, posting Instagrams, and updating the Instagram during the event,” Moy said.

“I liked being able to do the different activities, like going in the beer garden and playing volleyball with the music in the background,” Sara Palombo ’17 said. “I liked that dynamic. Also, free food and giveaways. I never complain about that.”

These giveaways, organized by Stephen Mayer ’19, included sunglasses, shirts, blankets, keychains, and more, and were handed out at a table and thrown into the crowd. Giveaways were even tied into Bison Sound’s social media, with free items given away to students who were able to Instagram the event’s hashtag the quickest.

“Although the weather wasn’t in our favor, we had a great turnout. People had a great time wrapped in blankets listening to music, and eating great food,” Moy said. “It was very rewarding to see the whole event come together so nicely.”

Bison Sound attracted multiple accepted students and their families and helped showcase student spirit to potential members of the class of 2021.

“On Accepted Student’s Day at Bucknell last year, I had so much fun at Bison Sound,” Schechter said. “It was the event that made me decide Bucknell was the right place for me.”