Zonker Harris Day (fka Ze Who Must Not Be Named Day (fka Zonker Harris Day)) is tomorrow. The holiday in honor of the notable Doonesbury character features a yearly springtime music festival in the West College Dormitory courtyard. Whey Station and Falafel will be there. This year’s theme is ‘TIP THE ICEBERG’ according to the Facebook event description:
Blogs should move faster than this, but yo we’ve been so burnt out since the weekend.
Photos from Ze Who Must Not Be Named Day last Saturday, with evidence of Dan Deacon’s unfortunately too-short set in the WestCo courtyard. Alas, rain:
[nggallery id=10]Good show if you were there though. Hope you enjoyed, prefrosh come to Wes!
[Photos c/o Andrea Domanick ’10]
First, put this song on
So you’ve looked at weather.com and you see statistics like 60% chance of precipitation and temperatures forecasted for 50-40º F this Saturday, and you might have feared that Ze-day might be cancelled or sad or something.
Fortunately, no matter what the weather forecast says, the WestCo/DKE forecast tomorrow is 100% chance of awesome.
The electrical equipment and bands will have a tent, but we’re not electrical, we’re human. When you were a little kid, and it was raining outside, you didn’t want to stay inside and whine. No, you wanted to go outside and jump in puddles, and roll in mud, and throw mud at people, and talk about how ridiculous it is that rain is probably God’s pee, and enjoy Dan Deacon, Anamanaguchi, Movement, The Gentlemen’s Bet, Linus, Sweaty Boys, Apache Kid, and Ishmael.
It’s cold? You have sweaters!
It’s raining? You have rainboots! And rainjackets! (If you don’t have a rainjacket, we’ll cut some holes in a trash bag for you, or something)
It’s WesFest and if Mother Nature’s MAKING IT RAIN, then we’ll party in the God Piss! We’re human and we’re youthful and we go to Wesleyan and we are going to have a great day, forecast be damned.
Yes, if it’s totally intolerable outside, we’ll move the bands into the westco café, but otherwise that space will be protected as a warm safe environment with blankets, hot chocolate, towels and comfortable things for people to rest between music sets. We’ll also have Cold Stone, Tandoor, and Typhoon there so bring some money!
Long and short of it is come to WestCo tomorrow at 1 PM for some Ze-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Day. If there’s nothing outside, check the café. Make sure to come on time, because if it is in the café, only the first 150 or so people will be allowed in.
Happy WesFest!
As you’ve no doubt heard by now, not only is (omg) the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity reaching into their substantial funds to sponsor this year’s April music and arts festival in WestCo’s courtyard, but (omg) DAN DEACON is headlining the show.
Also on hand will be Anamanaguchi, awesome in their own right – making “loud, fast music with a hacked NES from 1985” – and a slew of Wesbands.
Come witness some sick music, DKE’s continuing (and thus far successful) efforts to rebrand, and what looks like it might in fact be the biggest and best Ze Who Must Not Be Named Day in recent memory:
Dan Deacon! Anamanaguchi! Movement! Gentlemen’s Bet! Apache Kid! Linus! Ishmael! Cous Cous! Sweaty Boys!
Rah! Rah! Rain or Shine! It will be a day of tyedye, chalking, art, music, and revalations! Sun! Sun! Sun! (pray for sun!)
Don’t forget to tell the Pre-Frosh… Are you ready? YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!
Sponsored by Westco and DKE with educational materials and lectures sponsored by the Adelphic Education Fund and additional support by Radical Performance Machine
Date: Saturday, April 17
Time: 12:45pm – 8:15pm
Place: WestCo courtyard
Cost: FREE
Hope you had a great WesFest! Remember the beautiful weekend while you lament today’s dreary 4/20 weather.
More photos of Zonker Harris Day and a crowded Foss Hill after the jump.
Happy Zonker Harris Day! Stay safe, and remember – stupid things are not endorsed by the University.
Nemo Allen ’12 and Samuel Westerfeld ’12 created this video invitation for WestCo’s Ze Who Must Not Be Named Day (AKA Zonker Harris Day). So, lose your mind in the music and get ready for tomorrow’s bash. ZWMNBD schedule available here.
Note: This video is not endorsed by WestCo, ResLife or the University.
The music/art festival formerly recognized officially as Zonker Harris Day is this Saturday, April 18th, 12-8 pm in the Westco courtyard. Zonking up the campus will be the likes of Buru Style, Captain Coconut, and Red Wire Black Wire.
Come for the music, the spontaneous art, the food. Stay for all the fools on the hill.
Scheduled bands:
1:00- 1:45 Standing Room Only
2:00- 3:00 Buru Style
3:15- 4:15 Captain Coconut
4:30- 5:30 U.S. Royalty
5:45- 6:45 Red Wire Black Wire
7:00- 8:00 Buffalo Eskimo
Check out this year’s WesFest calendar:
Very conspicuously absent on Saturday’s schedule is Zonker Harris, or any kind of WestCo event at all. But rest assured, the “Ze Who Must Not Be Named” festival is still on.
It’s disappointing that the Office of Admissions isn’t letting the class of 2013 know that this event even exists, when it was such a major part of WesFest for a lot of us back when we were prefrosh.
But if they’re trying to distance themselves from WestCo’s “stupid hippie/druggie image” or whatever they call it, I guess this is the best way to let students have our fun while keeping uptight visiting parents from getting nervous, or whatever their issues were. It beats having Zonker Harris shut down altogether, which the administration tried to do last year.
Prefrosh Wesfest attendees, keep in mind that while the official schedule has plenty of worthwhile/interesting events on it that you might want to attend (and should), some of your favorite parts of Wesfest will likely not be anything officially listed.
You’ll find that the administration tends to ignore aspects of student life at Wesleyan which embarrass them. Like Zonker Harris Day, which apparently has undesirable countercultural connotations. Like Wes alum Tristan Taormino‘s WesFest lecture, which I guess was too sexy to include in the schedule? So keep an open mind when you get here – student life is a huge part of what makes Wesleyan unique.
You should join large groups of fellow wandering prefrosh, break away with the new friends you make, talk to current students, and ask around to find things to do/places to go. This goes without saying, but you won’t get a feel for what Wes is really like from the itineraries the admissions office gives you.
If you still don’t have a host to stay with, you won’t be alone – bring a sleeping bag and spend a night or two anyway. Even if you don’t find a host once you arrive, you’re guaranteed some floor space in the various dorm lounges around campus, and the company of fellow prefrosh for impromptu slumber parties.
And stay at least until Sunday afternoon if you can help it, if only to witness the epic 100-person orchestra playing Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band on Foss Hill, courtesy of the Bea’les (a 4/20 tradition of sorts in years past, on 4/19 for your enjoyment this year). And hey, if you can stay until Monday to uh, sit in on classes or something, you won’t regret it.
Oh, and keep in mind that Wesleyan does also entail taking classes and actually doing work. But that’s for another time – this is WesFest.
Everyone else, show those prefrosh a good time!
