Turnout at last weekend's sesquicentennial events was mixed, and might have been limited by cold weather, organizers said.

The weekend's events — which included the revival of former campus tradition Water Carnival, the sesquicentennial parade and a show by comedian Jay Leno — were held to commemorate MSU's 150th anniversary, which is beginning to wind down, sesquicentennial committee Chairwoman Sue Carter said.

The weekend's celebration marked the last major push planned by the committee, Carter said.

Organizers estimated about 3,500 people watched Water Carnival, which was held for the first time in 36 years. Eighteen student-designed floats navigated the Red Cedar River during the event.

But for Saturday's sesquicentennial parade, which replaced the annual homecoming parade and featured about 145 groups, including roughly 90 floats, turnout was less noticeable.

With a revised parade route that started at Frandor Shopping Center before moving on campus, it was hard to determine how many onlookers came out, said Sharon Radtke, who has organized the homecoming parades for the past five years.

Radtke guessed that several thousand people were in attendance.

"Maybe we had more people watching, but they were spread out over a greater distance (than in previous years)," she said.

Greg Stamatopoulos, an international relations and Russian senior, said students leaving for the weekend probably impacted turnout.

"There were more locals, but there were less students out and about," said Stamatopoulos, who designed the parade's winning float with residents of his Case Hall floor. "Considering the weather, there were a lot of people outside."

The Water Carnival and parade each had a budget of about $30,000, and were funded partly by community sponsors.

"It was kind of a stone soup — everyone chips in what they can," Carter said.

The two events combined made up only slightly more than 10 percent of the sesquicentennial committee's roughly $500,000 budget for the year. Larger expenditures included about $100,000 to produce "The Great Experiment," an hour-long documentary on the university's history.

A fireworks show following the Water Carnival cost the university $5,000.

A crowd of about 4,000, comprised more of community members than students, attended Leno's performance at Breslin Center later that evening.

Due to contractual restrictions, Breslin Center Director Scott Breckner could not reveal the cost of bringing Leno to campus.

"Our charge was in finding an artist or creating an event that served as a kind of culmination for this weekend," Breckner said. "We were a little disappointed in ticket sales. We weren't sure if timing was an issue."

Breckner said he would normally expect 4,500 or 5,000 people at such a performance, adding that it's too early to tell if they will be able to recover the costs from the show.

"We may be a little short, but we expect we'll be able to make it up in programming throughout the year," he said.

The sesquicentennial celebrations, which began in September 2004, will continue through Founders' Day of February 2006.