Fools of April celebrates student talent

Ysabel Lola, mass communication senior

Loyola’s second annual Fools of April festival on Sunday, April 3, was well attended this year after taking a year off in 2015 due to funding issues.

The mini-festival was a chance for alumni and current students to come together for a day of great music and food.

Many bands formed by students performed at the event, including Elysian Feel, Naughty Professor, Froyo Man, and Stoop Kids, who performed the day before at the city’s Freret Street Festival.

The concert’s second year was a huge success, and featured popular food trucks from around New Orleans including Kenny’s Cajun and Creole, Crêpes à la Cart and William’s Plum St. Snowballs.

Though planning the event was a challenge, said Amanda Seal, head of production, the event was enjoyed by faculty and students alike.

“You have to make sure faculty is comfortable with doing something like this and their trust is so important,” Seal said. “But we actually did not get one negative response.”

Raising $13,000 in the last year to put on the event, Seal and her team were pleased to see students engaged in activities like popping paint-filled balloons, chatting with New Orleans Film Festival representatives, and dancing to the performers’ upbeat tunes.

Eli Anaya, a music industry senior who attended Sunday’s event, said he was surprised at how well organized it was for a school event.

“It was awesome to see people that I knew in school up there performing and it really felt like I was at a real concert that I paid for,” Anaya said.

Seal said that the energy of the performers can be attributed to their excitement to be back headlining at their alma mater.

“A lot of people are happy to come back,” Seal said. “It’s a fun gig for them and it’s cool to reunite with people they went to school with.”