The University of Lethbridge Student’s Union wants to help new students get the year off to a great start with FreshFest.
The annual event features a variety of activities throughout the week, Sept 8-10 culminating with the Freshfest Jamboree on Saturday, Sept. 10 featuring a top notch line up of touring musicians and local talent including Riley Miller aka DJ Millz Skillz, the AWD Fellows, the S
ilkstones, Fernie stoke folk group Shred Kelly, the always popular Calgary rockers the Dudes and Thunder Bay based chart topper Coleman Hells and the always entertaining Mother Mother.
U of L VP of student affairs Royal Adkin is excited to put his stamp on the popular annual mixer which has grown since beginning in 2007.
He is grateful to the earlier Freshfest organizers like Riley Miller for building such a strong foundation for Freshfest.
“We’re just building on it a little bit,” he said, adding construction on campus has meant organizers have had to rethink a few logistical challenges.
“It has been a lot of work, but it has been worth it,” Adkin said.
“ It’s definitely a more refined Freshfest this year,” he said.
He noted Freshfest evolved over the past seven years when it was called Bridgefest then became Froshfest.
“They had events happening in the parking lot and events all over campus,” he related.
“They also had a torch relay. It was always a a chance to make those social connections that are so important. And it was a chance to have some fun before the pressure of classes and exams,” he continued.
Hen said Freshfest draws a good sized crowd each year.
“The University of Lethbridge has 6,985 undergraduate students and over 8,000 with post-graduate students. We get between 1,700 to 1,900 of them, which is a good portion of them,” he said.
Freshfest opens with a luau from 1-5 p.m. on Sept. 8. After that there will be a screening of the movie “Mean Girls” in the U of L student bar the Zoo.
“Because of all of the construction, it won’t be an outdoor screening, instead it will be in the Zoo,” said Adkin, adding that is also one of the partnerships with other organizations and the groups at the university that Freshfest is hoping to foster.
“And Mean Girls is a cult classic. It speaks to a number of different things,” he said.
The next day, Friday, July 9, features the always popular “Rumble in the Jungle” in the Zoo.
“It’s a really fun party. It’s a DJ. There’s a big party. It’s a good way to make all of those social connections that are so important,” Adkin said, adding FreshFest is also a way to help students party responsibility.
He is excited about the line-up for the Fresh Fest jamboree.
“We went through hundreds of submissions for bands,” he said adding the organizers wanted to include local talent as well as better known names, including familiar faces like Shred Kelly, who played the Student’s Frostbite winter event.
The jamboree begins at 4 p.m. with Millz Skillz setting the soundtrack for the party. He will also be DJing for The Awd Fellows.
Local rock band the Silkstones will follow them, then Shred Kelly, the Dudes followed by Thunder Bay electro folk musician Coleman Hell who has a few top 40 hits including “ Two Heads.” A 75 minute set from Mother Mother, who played packed shows in Lethbridge in 2014 and 2012 will bring the show to a close at 11 p.m .
“I hope it will be a good time. I know it will be,” Adkin promised.
Tickets are available on a tiered level through the http://freshfest.ulsu.ca, with the price increasing closer to the date.
“So it is in students’ best interests to buy their tickets earlier,” he said.
The first Tier tickets at $20 almost immediately sold out. Other tiers range from $25 to the Fully Fresh package at $60. There are only 100 Tier 4 tickets left as of Aug. 22.
The Fully Fresh package includes a wristband to all events plus a swag bang including an official FreshFest 2016 T-shirt, Fresh Fest Stunna shades, lip balm, lemon ball, sunscreen and temporary tattoos.
Riley Miller has been involved in organizing Freshfest for the past five years. Miller is excited to open the jamboree for the first time as DJ Millz Skillz.
“It’s my job to get the party started and people want to hear songs they know,” he said, noting he has been DJing parties and events for the past five years.
“I spin electronica, drums and bass and trap. It’s all strongly in the EDM genre,” he said.
He always enjoys being part of Freshfest.
“It’s a lot of fun. It‘s a tropical theme. It’s a week long good times and good vibes and meeting new people,” he enthused.
“It’s a good way to start off the year right,” he said.
A version of this article appears in the August 31, 2016 edition of the Lethbridge Sun Times
— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
