As the school year continues, the countdown begins to the annual Springfest celebration hosted the night of April 21 and all day on April 22.

Springfest has been an AU tradition since the early 90s and emphasizes the end of the spring semester, often described as the homecoming for the spring semester.

Liz Keller, director of Student Activities, described the celebration as “the one time where AU can feel like a big college.”

This being Keller’s first year directing Springfest experienced a much different setting in her years here at AU, from working in residence life to now directing the overall attraction.

“Usually, there’s a little bit of everything for everybody; we try to make food a priority, some things that students can take away with them,” Keller said. “In the past, there’s been putt-putt, laser tag and some bigger attractions like inflatables. And we’re doing a little bit of all of that this year.”

Attractions in the past have also consisted of ziplines, different inflatables, a fair swing, bumper cars, mini golf, an American ninja warrior set, different artists like caricature and henna and different takeaway items like license plates and street signs, and then, of course, a variety of food trucks.

Members of the Campus Activities Board (CAB) are keeping current plans under wraps until the day of the event when all attractions will be posted on their social media pages.

Hannah Mantle, CAB co-chair, said, “The biggest attraction is still a secret, however, students should be ready to fall in love with Springfest 2023.”

As the anticipation of what is to come continues to rise within the student body, Maeve Kelly, senior co-leader of CAB, reminisces of a time without Springfest to carry campus to the end of the year.

“When Covid first hit in 2020, Springfest was obviously canceled since we were all sent home. But the next year, Springfest didn’t change too much to my knowledge. Thankfully by the time Springfest came around in 2021, Covid cases were going down, the vaccine was out, and things were looking just overall more positive,” Kelly said.

Though the entire weekend is packed with fun and fair activities, members of CAB urge the student body to follow the rules in place to attend.

“The rules are the same as they have been in the past- we don’t allow bags or water bottles and if we see a student with those they will be asked to bring it back to their dorm. We also ask that students don’t come intoxicated,” Kelly explained. “I know it’s a big weekend for parties but for the student’s safety with the attractions we have to offer we ask that they don’t come intoxicated and they will be asked to leave if they do. We are also asking that students check in at our check in table to get their ID scanned this year instead of us just floating around scanning people.”

Though the attractions have yet to be revealed, CAB members encourage students to still participate in SpringFest traditions and make new campus memories.

“I think that if you’re not going to attend Springfest, you’re going to regret it this year,” Keller said. “Both the Friday event and the Saturday event. Both are going to be extremely fun, and you will have extreme FOMO (fear of missing out) if you miss out. CAB is back; this is what we want campus to be.”