The Moefest location has moved yet again, after complications arose from hosting the event on the Old Dickinson Co-Rec Field.
The event, which is WHRW 90.5 FM’s largest concert of the year, will begin at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 29. The final set venue for Moefest is the area between Whitney and Old Champlain in the Old Dickinson housing community.
The latest change comes after a request from Gaffney Productions, a company that WHRW has hired to help with Moefest logistics. According to Isabella Castiglioni, the director of public relations for WHRW and a junior majoring in geography, Gaffney Productions said the Old Dickinson Co-Rec Field would not be a safe location for the performance stage.
“We had a production meeting with the outside sound company, and he said he couldn’t drive his truck into the [Co-Rec] field,” Castiglioni said. “If it rains, he’s afraid his truck will get stuck in the mud, and the truck is needed to bring in the stage.”
Moefest was originally set for the Peace Quad, until Binghamton University administration cited conflicts with University policy stating that loud events cannot be held on-campus before 5:30 p.m. on weekdays, and the theatre department’s production of “Hamlet.” Although WHRW General Manager James Scott said he first submitted a request to reserve the Peace Quad at the beginning of the semester and received confirmation over two weeks ago, he was informed last Friday that the event could no longer be held there.
The University reserves the right to overrule any location bookings of student organizations on campus and offer alternative venues, but many have said that Moefest’s relocation could have been executed earlier to avoid complications.
“We were told by this company who’s providing the stage that they refused to use the Co-Rec Field,” Castiglioni said. “It all goes back to the fact that if we were on the Peace Quad it wouldn’t be a problem.”
The University offered to absorb any additional costs for promotional materials to advertise Moefest’s location after the first venue change to the Co-Rec Field. But Castiglioni said that although the location has switched again, WHRW is not remaking marketing materials so as to avoid further confusion.
According to Castiglioni, one of the benefits of the Peace Quad was its central campus location. She said that the changed location will not deter eager attendees, but it will limit the amount of students who stumble upon the event.
“The field we’re in now is way smaller than both the Peace Quad and the Old Dickinson [Co-Rec] Field, plus at the other two locations we’re much closer to the center of campus,” Castiglioni said. “So I think we’ll still get a good turnout because people want to see the bands we have, but we’ll lose a lot of people who would have noticed it in passing.”
Scott added that regardless of the changes and complications, he believes Moefest will be a success.
“It’s just what happens when you change the location for an event as large as Moefest last minute,” Scott said. “There’s a reason we’ve been planning this for months — an event this size really necessitates that. Moefest is still alive and I think it’s still going to be a great show.”