Every year, WQAQ and the Student Programming Board (SPB) come together to organize Fall Fest, an outdoor concert and festival at Quinnipiac University. 

Their opportunity to host Fall Fest in 2020 fell short. However, after a long year of strict COVID-19 guidelines, the organizations worked hard to make a Fall Fest comeback since 2019. SPB and WQAQ couldn’t be happier with the outcome of all the hours spent putting into organizing the event. 

WQAQ General Manager Jack Main (‘22) said the helping hand from all the volunteers and teams behind putting everything together made the process easy and enjoyable. 

“The process was a lot simpler than I imagined it going,” said Main. “Obviously there’s all the strings you have to pull behind the scenes in order to pull something like this off, but the cooperation between SPB, WQAQ and the student organization suite has been absolutely outstanding and too be able to get two big headliners like we did is something I couldn’t imagine in my wildest dreams, but here we are putting it together.” 

The free event provided food trucks, games, rides, crafts and live entertainment. The performing artists included Grayson DeWolfe, Trevor Daniel and Rebecca Black. 

WQAQ and SPB have been planning for Fall Fest since June. WQAQ Show Programming Manager Carly Mac Manus (‘23) is grateful to learn what goes into planning a large-scale event as well as being able to experience it outside on the Quad. 

“We were given our budget and met with our advisor, Jahmil, and we were really able to get everything together and talk about which artists we want and what we want out of Fall Fest which was super interesting,” said Mac Manus. “We were able to go through the process of planning a huge event and being on the show programming side, it was definitely something really cool because we’re putting on a huge concert, which is really fun.” 

Quinnipiac Assistant Director of Campus Life for Student Centers and Student Involvement Jahmil Effend  advised WQAQ and SPB on planning and organizing the event. Effend said everyone pulled it all together and did a great job. He is thrilled the Fall Fest happened on the Quad this year. 

“I am so happy that we were able to do this after COVID and we’re able to do in-person events again,” said Effend. “Last year we couldn’t have this and it’s something people had missed, so this time we were able to do something fun and bring together all of our students, which is what it’s really all about at the end of the day.” 

Seniors, including Main and SPB President Shannon Flaherty are grateful to graduate with a memory of organizing and enjoying a successful Fall Fest after a year of no large social gatherings. 

“It feels really rewarding,” said Flaherty. “I love to have those moments at events where I just sit back and observe and just watch students have fun and with this being my legacy with recognizable performers brings me so much joy.” 

Quinnipiac Chief Experience Officer Tom Ellett is glad students were able to experience an unforgettable day and maximize their use of the Quad. 

“I think it’s all about creating a homier destination for students,” said Ellett. “It’s really about a place that you can create memories on and remember your college experience and that’s what we hope for. One event at a time.” 

Members of WQAQ and SPB learned the value of patience, teamwork, leadership and dedication after a successful Fall Fest. 

“I want to thank all the volunteers, WQAQ and SPB for coming out here and helping out because without the volunteers and the staff, none of this would be possible,” said Main. 

WQAQ and SPB plan on only going up from here with future Fall Fests. 

“We want to make it a bigger event for future years, so we’re really excited to get this started off, get a lot of students here and really have it be an enjoyable, memorable experience that students look forward to years to come,” said Mac Manus.