Sixth annual Lawnstock festival draws in scores of people
By Ashley Lockett
With the smells of kettle corn in the air and vivacious music wafting through the areas of south campus, students and community members joined together on June 2 to celebrate one of the largest Associated Students productions of the year: Lawnstock.
For its sixth year in a row, Lawnstock has gathered people from all over the community and beyond to watch performances, play games, eat food and participate in other activities. The vendors available included Burrito King, Pizza’zza and Sugar Shack. Toward the middle of the lawn, different activities such as badminton, cornhole and even a silent disco were set up for those that wanted to partake.
Junior Mariah Mcnamara said she attended Lawnstock last year and was excited for the food and to feel the sense of community at the event.
Students and members of the community rest on the lawn as performances roundabout on stage. // Photo by Ashley Lockett
“I think it’s a good, fun event. I think it’s really cool that the university puts things like this together that are free and open to all the students,” Mcnamara said.
Among the different lineups and food vendors, various Western clubs and outside community members set up tables to advertise and/or share their merchandise.
“Everyone's sitting down right now, kind of like a big picnic and enjoying some music and community,” said Alexander Dixon, one of the organizers of Summer’s End Music and Arts Gathering.
Much like Lawnstock, Summer’s End hosts an annual festival to bring out musicians and artists who are willing to showcase their talents.
Located as a giant bubble towards the back end of the lawn lies the Silent Disco packed with students. // Photo by Ashley Lockett
Seated at table 13, an artist that goes by the name of Syco came back to Western’s Lawnstock after five years to display his work at his own table.
“I just remembered coming here and being like, ‘Western’s awesome for throwing this on’ and this is my first time coming back as a vendor and it’s been fun. People are very friendly,” Syco said.
As the crowd grew larger on the Communications Facility lawn, audience members migrated toward Stadium Piece, or as most people know it as, “the Stairs to Nowhere.”
From the tops of the steps, you could see a clear overview of the packed lawn with guests on stage performing, such as DJ JNasty and this year’s headliner The Black Tones.
Students and members of the community rest on the lawn as performances roundabout on stage. // Photo by Ashley Lockett