Spring Break
Good music. Good food.
By: Stephen Shepperd
Issue date: 4/6/09 Section: News
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Tents lined the rear section of the festival grounds that served as the weekend home for fraternities, student organizations and teams made of friends. The tents were equipped with amenities ranging from the bare essentials of Chilifest (beer and a couch) to more lavish items (DJs and leather recliners).
"Some of the tents were like VIP clubs," said Alfonso Torres, a senior structural engineering major. "Some tents had bouncers at the entrance, and inside were DJs and turntables."
Although law enforcement was in full force, it was a tame crowd was in attendance, event organizers said.
"As for on event grounds, most of the officers I talked to said they handed out the typical MIPs and PIs, but nothing real major," said Chilifest chairman and senior agricultural economics major David Towery.
With some of the festival's band lineups in question, this year's Chilifest lineup brought out some of Texas country's biggest artists, including Cross Canadian Ragweed and former Aggie Robert Earl Keen.
"As far as booking the bands, that's the lineup that we thought would play to this crowd," Towery said. "This is a real Texas country crowd. The people out here like to have a good time. They like to have songs they know the words to and sing along to. All the bands out here fit those criteria."
Though the official figures were not in yet, Towery said, the number in attendance appeared to be bigger than 2008.
"All the bands we had are crowd pleasers," Towery said. "They play to the crowd, have a good time and love to entertain. They aren't up there just to make money by playing a few songs."
What goes more unnoticed than the artists on stage is the amount of money given to charities and organizations.
"As soon as we get all of our figures in and pay all the bills and figure out how much we have left, we will donate all that back," Towery said. "Anything that comes in, we get to donate it right back. We normally donate to the organizations that brought volunteers out here and helped us as far as putting this whole event together."
As far as the chili went, some people left the festival grounds without seeing any of it.
"I have been to Chilifest a couple of years now, and I don't think I have ever seen any chili," said Derek Denman, a senior finance major.
"A lot of people don't come for that reason any more," Towery said. "But some do, and it's fun seeing the people taste it and judge it. We have a group of guys that are chili judges set up on the left side of the stage."
Chili or no chili, the Snook area benefits from the springtime festival. Whether attendees went out for Saturday's festivities or spent the night, Chilifest offered up much of the same: a place for good food, beer and music.
As the 2009 head chairman for Chilifest and a volunteer in previous years, Towery has seen what the festival offers to the community and said every year is something new and exciting.
"Being someone my age and being able to donate that amount of money to the local organizations is not something everybody can say."
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