The eighth annual AMS Block Party was announced for April 10 this past Thursday, however the capacity is 2,000 people less than last year.
Block Party, which was held in MacInnes field last year, will be taking place in the parking lot next to the Technology Enterprise Facility 3 (TEF 3). The lot will hold 4,800 attendees which, according to AMS programming and events manager Anna Hillar, is 2,000 less than the previous year.
“We can’t have it in a big deep hole, which is currently what MacInnes field looks like, so we have been searching for a new home basically for a year and half ... so [the AMS] and the university found the biggest lot possible that was going to be safe enough to hold as many people as we could,” said Hillar.
Since construction began on MacInnes field for the new aquatic centre, Block Party and other large scale events had to find a new home on campus. This year's location was chosen based on what was available, cost-efficient and close to the centre of campus. Hillar said that the large football and soccer fields were unavailable for use due to the expensive nature of covering turf.
Though the event won’t be able to host as many attendees as previous years, Hillar reassures that the event will still be fun for students.
“I think it will be just as fun…. It’s going to feel intimate and awesome, so I don’t think it will affect the energy of it at all it will just be a little bit harder to get a ticket,” said Hillar.
Though they haven’t announced the artist lineup, the available food stands or the planned activities, students should be excited.
“It's really really fun, like even if you don’t like being around crazy drunk people, its not all just crazy drunk people. Some students are there solely for the music and a lot of students on campus don’t actually drink, so I just encourage everybody to come.”
Early bird tickets will be $15 and week-of tickets, if they’re still available, will be $30.