by Erin Raterman
Daily Lobo
UNM students turned out by the hundreds Saturday to party at Fiestas 2003, an annual music and entertainment event sponsored by the special events arm of ASUNM.
The crowd, which included people of all ages from the Albuquerque community, heard a number of local and national bands, played games and visited political, volunteer, cultural and recreational booths.
"It is the last event of the year," said Sarah Mckinney, executive director of ASUNM Student Special Events, the organization sponsoring the event. "It is a non-traditional chance for students and the community to come together and listen to performances while relaxing and having fun."
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Children, adults, students and families attended the event.
Fiestas used to be a three-day event, but two years ago it was discontinued by Student Special Events, McKinney said.
The organization decided to put on Fiestas last year and due to a good turnout continued the tradition this year, she said.
SSE is a small programming organization with five employees and is mostly funded by the Associated Students of UNM, which the organization applies to every year through the spring budget process.
Mckinney added that most of the people helping out at Fiesta 2003 were volunteers from other ASUNM agencies.
About forty organizations participated in this year's event, including student political organizations, sororities, fraternities, cultural clubs, educational clubs, businesses and volunteer groups.
"Fiestas provides a great way to get your name out," said Shelley Rothrock, the director of training and publicity for Agora Crisis Center. "Students are finding out a lot of information and there is a wonderful selection of bands this year."
Many of the organizations fundraised during the event, offering cultural food, games and souvenirs.
Four local bands, Guarjira, Civitas, Feels Like Sunday and Fertile Soil, performed, offering a variety of music, including Latin, rock, hip-hop and punk rock.
Headlining the event were The Eyeliners and Simple Plan, and all of the bands' performances were free.
"Free concerts are great," UNM freshman Cassie Wenderoth said. "They give students something cheap and fun to do."
The highlight of Fiestas 2003 was Simple Plan's performance, with hundreds of students turning out to watch.
During the band's performance, students enthusiastically slam-danced in a mosh pit and joked with band members.
"Fiestas is a good way to get students outside and having fun before finals," UNM freshman Justin Dedera said.
SSE selected Simple Plan because of the group's broad appeal to students and because they were willing to stop and perform at UNM on their way to a concert in Houston, Mckinney said.
Student Special Events originally selected Jimmy Eat World to perform at Fiestas, but the band was unable to participate because of its busy schedule, she said.
Events like Fiestas are popular at other universities as well, Mckinney said. She added that SSE would like to sponsor free concerts at UNM more often but is unable to because of its limited budget.
Still, Student Special Events is already making plans for next year's Fiestas.
