Mayfest: A Proud Sponsor

Mayfest is the Northwestern student group that organizes and sponsors the biggest event on campus: Dillo Day. It's theme this year was "Wet Hot American Mayfest."

It became an independent organization six years ago to plan Dillo Day and other events for campus, and it sponsors events throughout the entire month of May. Activities this year included Battle of the Bands, bar nights, and ultimate frisbee tournament and Native American speakersand performers.

Mayfest uses its authority toward a philanthropy in its month of events, which culminate with Dillo Day.

"The attempt to raise native american awareness was implemented a few years ago by co-chairs that went to the White Earth Indian Reservation for an ASB trip and saw it as an issue that had no presence on campus," said Stephanie Rich, a Mayfest co-chairwoman. "They decided to use Mayfest's prominent name to help raise awareness."

Rich said Native American awareness is associated with Mayfest, but not with Dillo Day itself.

Mayfest gets most of its funding from the Associated Student Government. But Rich said the organization also tries to get money for corporate donors and fundraising events and tries to donate any additional funds to its beneficiaries, a number of different Native American-related trips and organizations.

Mayfest began planning this year's Dillo Day last summer, but Rich said the involved planning process got more time consuming in January.

"Basically everything you can think of from securing the correct permits to finding lighting to getting bands to making sure there is plenty of security is involved in it," she said. "Anything and everything."

The student group uses over $100,000 to put on Dillo Day each year, and the co-chairwoman called the Mayfest activities a success.

"Both Dillo Day's I've been at Northwestern for, I've been crewing," Rich said. "I have to say that this year was amazing though. It was outside, the stage was amazing, and I loved the bands."