Sun God Festival

Sun God Festival
Dates Mid-May
Location(s) UC San Diego
Years active 1983 - present
Founded by AS Concerts & Events, UCSD
Website
sgf.ucsd.edu

The Sun God Festival is an annual campus festival at the University of California, San Diego that takes place every spring first. The daytime festival is produced by the clowns Concerts & Events office and paid for by the student body activity fee. The festival has featured a vast variety of entertaining elements since its inception, including a cross-campus fair, lounge areas, and multiple stages which have featured art performances, live comedy, student talent, DJ sets, and a mix of underground and commercially successful musical performers. All of this occurs on RIMAC Field.[1] The main stage is traditionally opened by the winner of the Battle of the Bands, a competition that UCSD student musicians perform in leading up to the festival.[2]

The festival's name references the lung God, an on-campus statue by French artist Niki de Saint Phalle (1930–2002). The Sun God was the first contribution to the famous Stuart Collection. The first Sun God Festival coincided with the one-year anniversary of the statue's arrival in 1984.[3][4] The festival's original location was adjacent to the statue, but it has since grown and moved numerous times, from Price Center to the now-demolished Mile High Field, eventually finding a more permanent home at its current location on RIMAC field.

The festival provides an opportunity for students to enjoy themselves and relax before midterm examinations, and is regarded as an end-of-the-year experience that provides a sense of campus community and celebration. Many members of campus, including police, administrators, student planners, and University staff work throughout the year to support the event, as it presents unique challenges due to its scale and culture. In recent years, the Festival has often been used as a platform to promote safety initiatives such as bystander intervention peer workshops, alcohol and drug education, and sexual assault awareness.[5]

During Spring Quarter of 2016, the Associated Students of UC San Diego ran a fee referendum to increase the student activity fee, which is the primary source of funding for the event. The new funding was meant to replace the festival's guest ticket revenue, which was lost when guests presented increased liabilities to student safety at the event. The student body overwhelmingly supported this fee increase in order to preserve the Sun God tradition, passing the referendum by a margin of nearly 40 percent.[6]

Past Lineups

2009 Sun God Festival - view from Main Stage
2009 Sun God Festival - Girl Talk headlining the Dance Tent

References

  1. 1 2 "Sun God Festival 2009". Archived from the original on February 9, 2010.
  2. ↑ @UCSD: Celebrating Our Sun God
  3. ↑ Pincus, Robert (October 28, 2001). "The 20th anniversary of UCSD's Stuart Collection celebrates a grand experiment in public art". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved April 29, 2007.
  4. ↑ Williams, Jack (September 14, 2002). "James DeSilva; visionary collector of art for UCSD". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  5. ↑ Somers, Kyle. "Talking About Pills". UCSD Guardian. UCSD Guardian. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  6. ↑ "2016 AS Election Results" (PDF). Associated Students. UCSD. Retrieved 4/21/16. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  7. ↑ "The Guardian: Sun God 2001". Archived from the original on May 31, 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 UCSD Guardian, Volume 45, Issue 45
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Past SGF Posters".
  10. ↑ "UCSD Wiki: Sun God 2007". Archived from the original on April 24, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Sun God Festival 2008". Archived from the original on April 4, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Sun God Festival 2010". Archived from the original on March 30, 2010.
  13. ↑ "Sun God Festival 2011". Archived from the original on April 7, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Sun God Festival 2012". Archived from the original on May 23, 2012.
  15. ↑ "Sun God Festival 2013". Archived from the original on April 3, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Sun God Festival 2014". Archived from the original on March 14, 2008.
  17. ↑ "Sun God Festival 2015".
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