Bands joined together for the 12th annual “Goat Fest,” hosted on Andre Lawn by Topper Radio on April 11. Students, vendors and band members’ friends gathered under the afternoon sun for a five-hour-long musical celebration and to partake in the club’s festivities.
Goat Fest, Topper Radio’s largest event of the year, brought five bands to the St. Edward’s campus, a majority of which were based outside Austin, in San Marcos and San Antonio.
Attendees of the event were offered a variety of musical styles, from electronic house, shoegaze, classic indie rock, to rap – there was a niche for every listener.
The acts, in order of performance, were: “Cadence,” “Knighted,” “Space Goonz,” “ladyluck” and “Floats.”
“I feel like Austin is such a big indie city, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but I feel like it’s just all white people and I want it to diversify, which is why it was important to get and showcase an act like Space Goonz – bring something new to the scene,” Topper Radio president Uma Dietzel said. “We (also) have two groups from San Marcos. I feel we never give San Marcos any representation. We just wanted to promote anything we could.”
Space Goonz, a nine-member Austin rap collective, featured St. Edward’s alumni Nico James. Similarly, other artists were connected to Topper Radio or St. Edward’s: the first act, “Cadence,” was performed as friends of a Topper Radio officer, Robert Vera, and the second act, “Knighted,” was done by St. Edward’s senior Danny Daza, who dj’d for the festival.
“I’ve mainly been just promoting: helping to make the flyers that we post around campus and posting on a story to get everyone excited,” Vera said. “I think the whole event’s been really awesome. It’s been a really great time just seeing all the vendors, the food and seeing the bands perform.”
A grassy area to dance was provided by a perimeter of vendors forming a “U” on the lawn. The Topper Radio team decided to invite students to sell their crafts and other items in support of small businesses.
“Ever since I’ve done Goat Fest, we’ve always had art vendors and I think as an art senior, I’ve wanted to give back to us because I feel like we don’t get the attention we deserve,” Dietzel said. “So I tried to get as many student artists here to sell their work, get their voice out there, because once they get out into the real world, no one’s going to be nice to them.”
Vendors sold a variety of items like jewelry, art, bedazzled lighters and crocheted toys.
“This is really my first time putting myself out there; I do all kinds of different little creative things and I want to start becoming more confident in my work, so I want to put myself out there and see how it goes,” vendor Gabriella Gonzales said. “The president of Topper Radio wanted to make sure students were given the opportunity to showcase their stuff. So she suggested that I apply.”
For the majority of the event, students stood beneath the shade of oak trees adjacent to the lawn or sat on a curb by Trustee Hall. This was to escape the heat of the unobstructed sun, which elevated the event’s temperature to 88 degrees. To combat this, Topper Radio provided free water for attendees.
Participants floated between this event and the nearby Senior Graphic Design showcase, which began at 6 p.m. on the same day. Additionally, in between acts, B. Hooved members Dashiell Byrne and Sam McFarland served as emcees and provided musical comedy.
“I love the comedy – It’s pretty funny; I like the music too – It’s pretty enjoyable. It’s nice and relaxing. We can just, you know, hang out,” freshman Aiden McGillicuddy said. “I came out because I saw some flyers about it. I just got off of work and I just had to come see it, so I’ve been here for about an hour, just looking around.”
The festival unexpectedly concluded at 8:22 p.m. when the closing act of “Floats” ended early – when they were set to perform until 9 p.m. While every other act performed for an hour, the San Antonio band only performed for less than 30 minutes. However, by the end of the band’s set, several vendors had begun packing up and leaving – in addition to the sun’s setting.
This year’s Goatfest served as a return to form for the club, bringing the festival back to campus following last year’s departure to Freddo Coffee Shop on South Congress.
