Students, area residents and country music fans spent the brief sunny part of Saturday afternoon at the field outside Demonstration Hall, taking in the sights and sounds of the 8th annual Sparty’s Spring Party. But a rainy forecast kept attendance low and forced the party to end early.
The University Activities Board, Residence Hall Association, Associated Students of Michigan State University and Student Alumni Foundation hosted the party. The party also was supposed to include a free concert by country music star Craig Morgan, but a rainstorm cut the event short before nightfall.
The concert was canceled after the rain continued into Saturday evening. Morgan was scheduled to play later in the evening, after two acoustic sets and special guest country band, Jypsi.
One of the opening sets was music by indie artist and MSU student Dan Pechacek.
“I’m really bummed about it because it was going to be a big thing and a fun day,” Pechacek said. “I hadn’t played a show like that before, so I was really excited for that, as well.”
Because of a signed contract, organizers still had to pay for the concert. UAB special events coordinator Lindsey Dubey was unable to provide an estimate of the cost of the concert.
Dubey said organizers hoped for a crowd of 5,000 people, since 7,000 attended the event last year, but only about 300 braved the rain to attend the party.
Most of the crowd gathered around dinner time, lured by the promise of free food. Lines of people waited for The Taste of East Lansing, a food-tasting event held at the party. Several local food venues, such as Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches, Buffalo Wild Wings, Cosi, Qdoba Mexican Grill and Insomnia Cookies, offered free samples.
“I love it — I think there needs to be more of it,” pre-law sophomore Kyle Clark said while waiting in line for a free sandwich. “The bungee jump was fun. I think I’m going to go to the rock climbing next.”
Other activities at the party included inflatable and carnival games, a rock climbing wall, an electric bull and a corn-hole tournament. Vendors also handed out T-shirts, frisbees and other prizes.
Luckily for the few stragglers and UAB members who lingered outside Demonstration Hall after the party was canceled, Craig Morgan decided to give a short sidewalk show. About 40 people gathered around Morgan and his band while it played his hit songs, including “That’s What I Love About Sunday,” “International Harvester,” and two songs from his new album.
“That was incredible,” Dubey said. “You deal with a lot of different artists, and a lot of times you run into artists who will not give you the time of day and they are there to get their money and leave. It was refreshing to work with an artist who was down to Earth.”
Support student media!
Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
Discussion
Share and discuss “Rain cuts Sparty party short” on social media.
