After rain washed away eight scheduled concerts and about $84,000 on Dillo Day, ASG officers say that Mayfest, the student group that plans the day’s activities, will need a back-up plan for next year’s festivities.
Associated Student Government Financial Vice President Carson Kuo said the group probably will not be penalized in next year’s funding process, but they will have to present a rain plan to ensure that the concert will take place.
“Next year the bands will play,” said Kuo, an Education senior.
This year the bands, including headliner Mighty Mighty Bosstones, did not play because Mayfest organizers decided to have the concert on the Lakefill, and heavy rain forced the group to cancel the shows in the interest of the performers’ safety.
Mayfest co-chairwoman Sarah Alexander said the group will pay closer attention to the weather next year, but she said she would like to see Dillo Day remain at the Lakefill.
“We want Dillo Day to be outside at all costs,” she said. “Dillo Day draws between 5,000 to 10,000 people. It would be a statistical nightmare to have it in Patten Gym.”
Alexander defended her group’s preparation for this year’s concert, saying she had been checking Internet weather sites every day during the two weeks preceding Dillo Day. Many weather sources – including The Daily – had predicted rain on May 26.
Alexander said the group decided to keep the concert outdoors after predictions for rain on Friday proved wrong. The group lost its reservation at Patten and hoped the weather would stay sunny.
“The reason we made the call was that the forecast on Friday morning said there would be an hour of rain on Friday, but there was nothing,” Alexander said. “That cemented the idea in our mind that things would be fine. There’s no way that anyone in our position could have called it differently.”
At about 5 a.m. on Dillo Day, while most students were finishing a night of pre-partying or dreaming of kegs and eggs, Alexander and fellow Mayfest co-chairwoman Molly Allen met with other executive board members outside Norris University Center.
Despite the cloudless sunrise, they began preparing the stage for possible storms.
When the rain began to creep in from over Lake Michigan, the group unplugged the sound system and started covering equipment with a tarp.
They canceled the show band by band, always hoping that another hour would bring calmer weather and the chance to start the show. But that opportunity never arose.
“It was way too dangerous (to let the bands perform),” Alexander said. “The stage was filled with water. It was leaking into the sound system. Water and electricity do not go well together.”
Although none of the bands played, Mayfest still had to honor their contracts and pay the bands.
Mayfest treasurer Nit Wadhwani said he hadn’t finished paying the bills, but he estimated the cost would be between $84,000 and $87,000, which is slightly more than the total amount given to For Members Only, Hillel Cultural Life, the Asian American Advisory Board, the African-American Theatre Ensemble and Alianza combined during Spring Quarter.
Although the Student Activity Funding Board normally punishes student groups for events with poor attendance – zero in Mayfest’s case – due to the circumstances that surround Dillo Day, Mayfest probably will not lose funding.
Mayfest has already been granted about $102,000 for next year’s Dillo Day.
