Blister in the Sun is a success
On Saturday, April 13, Maryville College had its annual Blister in the Sun festival amidst smiling faces and light rain. The event is hosted by the Student Programming Board (SPB) every year and allows clubs and organizations local to Maryville to come out and have fun in the lot in front of Persons Hall.
Among the clubs featured was the art club Avant-Garde, the STEM club, Intervarsity, the Student Government Association, MC Gamers, and the Highland Echo. Clubs offered attendees games, bubbles, junk food, and/or free stuff like canvas bags and T-shirts.
Avant-Garde entertained students with a colorful dartboard with paint-filled balloons as targets, and provided chalk to draw on the sidewalk. STEM impressed with a levitating target arrow game. The Highland Echo caused a few laughs with a homemade obstacle course aptly named American Ninja College Journalist.
Intervarsity had fun sharing bubble makers of all shapes and sizes at their table. SPB was also able to hire a bouncy slide and a mobile escape room for the event. There was even a bubble maker that filled the festival with smoke-filled bubbles, a photo tower where attendees could take silly pictures with their friends, and a blow-up slide.
“This year, we were able to show the amazing things organizations on campus can do,” said member of SPB Maggie Nielsen. “We like to think of it as a carnival of some sort. It’s just a way for students to get out of their room, get free novelties, and have fun.”
The festival ran into trouble at its start with some light rain peppering the festival booths, however, students still came out and had fun in spite of the weather.
“Even though it was cloudy, I still had a great time spending the day outside with my friends,” said Highland Echo festival representative Eliza Komisar. In fact, Blister in the Sun was consistently attended by students throughout the time it took place from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.
“This year we had a pretty great turn out, despite the weather and all the other functions happening here on campus,” said Nielsen.
The event also illustrated to prospective students the active and fun student body of Maryville College. Multiple tours walked through the festival and were treated to novelties such as free canvas bags and candy. Thanks to SPB for putting on such a great event!