By Kalena Reynolds | Staff Writer
A once-in-a-lifetime eclipse which occurred over last year’s Diadeloso leaves this year’s celebration with standards that will be hard to top. Luckily, between Joshua Bassett and multiple unique attractions, the schedule for the “state fair” themed holiday on Tuesday will be packed.
Events will kick off at 10 a.m. with a variety of live music, entertainment and attractions, starting at Fountain Mall and the Bill Daniel Student Center. Diadeloso chairman and San Diego, Calif., junior Robbie Crawford said the day will feature multiple local bands and student organizations which will interact with students and provide entertainment throughout the day.
While planning this year’s Diadeloso, Crawford said his goals were inclusivity and uniqueness.
“My biggest goal was trying to add variety … just to encourage people who have been to the on-campus Dia stuff before, to come back and experience it again, because we have new things” Crawford said.
In order to promote student engagement, the entertainment will include interactive lessons from student clubs, he said.
“The Country Dance Club is going to be teaching a lesson where they’re just going to be out there teaching people how to do line dance,” Crawford said. “And then the NPHC (National Pan-Hellenic Council), they do a yard show every year where a couple of their organizations will do a performance.”
Crawford said there will also be a variety of student performers and bands playing throughout the day on Fountain Mall.
The food trucks also open at 10 a.m. in the Morrison Parking Lot. They will have various options, including King’s Chicken Wings, The Quesadilla Factory, Vitek’s Market, Pop’s Lemonade and many others.
“We will have about eight food trucks, and it’s a little bit different from some of the other events that Chamber puts on because these ones are for students to pay for,” Crawford said.
Following along with the state fair theme, the attractions will include something for everyone — including goat yoga and a ferris wheel.
“So there’s like that ladder game that you climb up, and you try not to fall off,” Crawford said. “We’ll also have axe throwing, though goat yoga is going to be there. We’ll have a caricature artist. We’ll have one of those giant slides. We’ll also have a splatter room, where you go in and you just splatter paint on the walls, lots of fun stuff.”
For the splatter room, the attraction will offer students a paint-cover suit to put on to keep their clothes clean. Afterwards, they will then enter a “rage room” type setup and be able to splatter paint to their hearts desire.
The goat yoga will be held at Minglewood Bowl; students must sign up using a form on Connect or the Baylor Dia Instagram page. Those who don’t sign up prior will be able to get on a waitlist at the attraction.
Following tradition, Dr Pepper Hour will be held from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on the first floor of the SUB.
At 2:30 p.m., all the events and food trucks will close, and Waco Hall will open their doors for singer-songwriter Jenna Raine, who will go on at 3:30 p.m., which will include a 30-minute set. Following Raine’s performance, former Disney Channel star Joshua Bassett will take the stage for his set, which runs until 5:30 p.m.
Tickets to the concert will be available for students only at Waco Hall for free until sold out.
Official merch for Joshua Bassett will be available in the lobby of Waco Hall during the concert.
“’I’m telling people who are interested in that, to get there a little bit before 3:30 just so that they have time to purchase that,” Crawford said. “But it’ll be just like a standard Waco Hall event with the clear bag policy and the metal detectors, and then we’ll have the concert.”
There will also be Dia merchandise for sale at Fountain Mall, as well as a special Baylor Bear Habitat collab shirt at the Baylor Bear Habitat.
“At one point during the day, we’ll release on the Baylor bear habitat Instagram page,” Crawford said. “We’re going to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to have 100 custom bear habitat Dia collab shirts; come over to the bear habitat at this time to go pick it up.”
While the day didn’t come without significant planning from Crawford, he said his favorite part is seeing the plan come to life.
“My favorite thing whenever I do an event for Chamber or something else is I just love watching all the other people who are attending,” Crawford said. “I love seeing their faces and seeing how they’re enjoying everything.”
Dallas junior Andie Raw, Chamber publicity organizer for Dia and lead bear trainer for the bears, said the pressure was on following last years Diadeloso and eclipse combination, however the chance to get to see artists for free is a special aspect to the lineup of events.
“I think being able to give students an opportunity to see an artist live for free is amazing,” Rawe said. “The beautiful thing about Dia, at least for like a planning process, is the creativity that comes with the event.”
Rawe said she encourages students to stay on campus and enjoy the itinerary for the day because of the community aspect the day brings.
“Not only do you get a day off and you get to have fun on campus, but I know a bunch of professors that come to Dia with their kids and everything, and it’s a great way to get to know your professors more and maybe meet some of your future professors,” Rawe said. “So I feel like it’s a really good networking opportunity.”
