Emma Laus, Staff Writer; Jazmin Gomez, Staff Writer
“Beloit is back!” Ezekiel Kingsbury’25 said in an opening statement to the audience at Peet Fest. Encompassing the crowd’s excitement, Kingsbury’s declaration captured the essence of community building — the primary objective of the event.
On April 20, 2024, Beloit students gathered in Chapin Quad to celebrate the return of Peet Fest. Blankets piled with clothes and student art covered the lawn by the gazebo. Despite the 40-degree weather, a crowd had already formed by the time the event began at 4:20 p.m.
After taking a hiatus last year, the annual Beloit tradition returned thanks to several members of the Round Table and other contributors, including Flora Milford’24, Charlie Starenko’24, Ella Diers’24, Finn Waterman’26, Kingsbury, among many others.
“It was one of the first exciting events I went to at Beloit, and we wanted to bring it back before graduating,” says Milford.
The planning process for Peet Fest went fairly smoothly, according to Milford. They had to communicate with the administration to book the quad in advance and were able to transform the empty lawn into a space full of activity.
Even though the scheduled water fight received immediate cancellation due to the colder-than-anticipated weather, the vendors, live music, limbo, and pinata were definite favorites of the evening. Milford executed one of the cutest highlights of the night with her promposal to Sam Shea’24 using a Peet Fest handmade t-shirt. (Of course, he said yes.)
Many student vendors were grateful for the opportunity to sell their products. “It’s nice to have an event to give students practice for professional business experience,” says Alisiia Demkina’25, who sold a variety of baked goods.
Demkina’s sales partner, Alyssa Luna’24, also commented on the benefits of the vendor experience saying, “Most students have student jobs that don’t pay well. Here, you get to sell on your own conditions and get to share a part of yourself, your culture.” Luna references a Russian banana cake treat Demkina baked as an homage to her culture.
Throughout the entire festival, live music was performed in the gazebo. Shea was the first to perform, playing a solely instrumental set until he was joined by Milford for a lovely duet of Tia Blakes’ “Plastic Jesus.”
Following Shea’s performance was Commons Crush, an ensemble of students including Annabelle Sherman’27, Cosette Barac’27, Lyndall Breaux ‘27, Zai Steward’27, Clara Martin’27, and Gabbi Willis’27. They played several iconic songs, including “Complicated” by Avril Lavigne, “Lovefool” by The Cardigans, and “You’re So Vain” by Carly Simon.
For the next performance, the tone shifted into a peaceful set of folk songs beautifully sung by Siona Shishak’27, accompanied by piano and guitar.
After the limbo contest, the closing act, Velvet Hall, entered the stage. Sherman and Steward performed a second time, along with Mateo Marek’25 and Waterman.
Many attendees spoke on the importance of events like Peet Fest at Beloit. “I think it’s a way to build community on campus and to connect,” Ella Walters’27 says. Spaces curated for musical, culinary, or just artists certainly invite the diversity of the student body. Kiley Shew’25 says, “I feel like everyone is working together. It’s cute.”
Despite the weather, Peet Fest remained well-attended and full of life. Although quarantine has been lifted for a couple of years now, feelings of isolation and lack of community still linger on many college campuses, making events like this more important than ever. “It’s nice to get everyone together to build a sense of community, especially since COVID,” says Milford. “I’m just really happy everyone is here.”
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