After the many promotional efforts and months of networking by Nancy Salisbury’s, Ph.D., communication students, the Groovy GOAT Music Festival was hosted on Nov. 8. Groovy GOAT spanned five hours, featuring five musicians and artists, appearances by campus organizations and community nonprofits, as well as concessions run by the student organizers. Although the festival was moved from its original outdoor location on André Lawn to Jones Auditorium due to weather conditions, it still included the same activities. 

The festival, aside from the musical acts, hosted tabling of multiple student organizations, including Monarchs on the Hilltop, Asian Student Association, Social Work Student Association and much more. Community non-profits Side by Side Kids and Fruitful Commons, who partnered with the Groovy GOAT team for the event, also made tabling appearances. Each organization offered opportunities to make personal crafts and keepsakes, such as friendship bracelets, tie-dye shirts, DIY tote bags, rock painting, seed packet making and decorating flower pots.

Side by Side Kids were present at the festival to inform students about their purpose and spread the word about their volunteering opportunities. The organization, a Christian-based, non-profit provides after-school care programs for youth in the Austin area. Atalia Palma, the Side by Side Kids volunteer intern specialist, says that she appreciates the hospitality of the event and the opportunity to share their mission with the hilltop community.

“I’ve had a really great time, and I think everyone was very hospitable, from the organizers, the students and other organizations that were here,” Palma said. “I just appreciated the opportunity that we were given to preach about what we do, and at the end of the day, what we want to do is serve our children and the families and protect our children.”

The performers featured in the lineup, in order of performance, were Alexi 8bit, Emily Pesina, Jane, Ruben Octavio and Novus Rose. All artists presented a wide musical variety, including indie music, piano, punk rock, guitar and psychedelic/experimental rock. The unique styles contributed to the eccentric atmosphere of the event.

The bands were Austin-local performers, some of which included members of the St. Edward’s community, such as SEU alumni who appeared in the band Novus Rose and senior Emily Pesnia. Pesina, who had previous performance background, decided to join the festival’s lineup on a whim while serving on the Groovy GOAT planning committee. She played piano and sang a variety of different tunes, from Lady Gaga to Queen and Spanish music. As Pesina is graduating this December, she expresses her gratitude to the festival for allowing her to give a last performance and hopefully inspire other students on campus to display their musical talents.

“I love that I was able to end my semester and my time at St. Edward’s with a bang by performing and showing them who I am, besides my degree,” Pesina said. “I think it’s beneficial for the hilltop community, because I’m a Hilltopper performing for Hilltoppers—so it’s awesome that the event features student performers. It brings the community together.”

The students that made the festival possible worked with community organizations as well as with each other, to contribute to the success of the festival. 

“I feel like all of us became really good friends, and we tried to help each other,” said Erika Gonzalez, a student who was a part of the Groovy GOAT social media committee.

Gonzalez states that even though there were different groups for different aspects of the festival, they needed everyone to work together to make it work. She also explained how the event brought the class together and strengthened their networking, communication and collaboration skills.

“The fun part was getting to know your classmates, working with them and putting these events together,” Gonzalez said. “It helped us with learning how to communicate better.”

The extraneous efforts put in to make Groovy GOAT possible provided the hilltop community with a unique opportunity to network with community nonprofits and campus organizations, while exposing them to tunes from the local music scene.

“We worked super hard, and I’m really happy with the turnout,” Gonzalez said. “I feel like it’s important for the whole community to get involved in these types of events so they can enjoy and find new music and get together and just be part of the hilltop.”