Neon lights illuminated rows upon rows of hands waving and jumping in unison while the million-dollar bass system rattled the ground. DJs rapped and remixed dance music with thundering bass and mash-inducing beats. At one point, 20 neon-clad girls danced on stage and sprayed down the crowd with a hose while tossing glow sticks into the dance-pit. Fire breathers from the Burn Mob spat crimson flames in front of the stage and hoola-hooped rings of fire.
By the end of the night, what began as cracked, dry dirt was a sloshy mud pit littered with glow sticks and water bottles. After an 11:30 p.m. encore by DJ Na Palm, event organizer and founder Drew Thomas ended the event in an thundering "chirp, chirp" chant by enthusiastic students. Neely Fest provided an outlet to 2,000 music-lovers, students, organizations, businesses and the community Friday night at the Delaware County Fairgrounds.
STUDENTS STEP INTO NEELY FEST
Cory Crawford, public relations representative of Neely Fest 2012 and a graduate student, received a text message from his brother during the Fest. His brother was at the Linkin Park concert in Indianapolis that same night and sent Cory a picture of the concert.
"I looked the photo of the crowd at the concert and saw that we were rocking as hard as they were," Crawford said. "To see that many rows back of hands up in the air is awesome."
Freshman criminal justice major Brooke Routhe came to the Fest as a newcomer to university culture.
"It definitely makes it more exciting to be in college," Routhe said. "We have never been to college before, so this is a good opening event."
Senior public relations major George Myers and his friends usually frequent house parties on weekends, however they wanted to "try something on a larger scale."
"I'm glad that Ball State is trying to compete with events like Little Five in IU and Purdue's Grand Prix," Myers said.
For Dameon McCoy, senior political science and business major, the DJ-spun beats sparked campus and hometown pride. McCoy is from Chicago, the electronic dance music capitol of the nation.
"When I came to BSU, I was homesick. There was nothing I could relate to," McCoy said. "Being [at Neely Fest] and feeling at home with something I love means a lot. I'm proud of that. I hope this continues. We need something like this."
KEEPING IT UNDER CONTROL
Watching attendees trickling in at the beginning of the night, Maddison Glorio, Inside Connections Marketing director of public relations, knew that being a "dry event" could affect attendance. She said the number one complaint she heard was that there couldn't be alcohol in the Fest. The second was that there were policemen in attendance.
"We have to build a good reputation for ourselves and get the city's respect first before we are trusted with bringing alcohol into the equation," Glorio said.
Muncie police Capt. Rick Richman estimated that 12 officers were monitoring the event. Officers checked coolers, bottles and cans for alcohol. Phi Sigma Epsilon members also volunteered as security throughout the night.
But Glorio was reassured that no dampers were holding the event down as she looked out into the stage area.
"You can't look out there and say people aren't having the time of their lives," Glorio said.
While students presented no problems, transportation had a glitch. Bus Nectar, who provided free rides in between the fairgrounds and the Village for student safety, broke down at 8:30 p.m. It took an hour to get the bus up and running.
GETTING THE NAME OUT
Local vendors, such as Grandma Betty's and Cave Baby, were outside the venue offering ice cream, grilled foods and refreshments, among other confections. Red Bull was giving out free energy drinks. Little Caesar's passed out 50 pizzas through the crowd to announce its new local location.
Cincinnati-based up-and-coming apparel company, Vox Votum, hopes the event will be something they can attend year after year.
"Muncie is our starting base, really. More so than Cincinnati, even," co-owner Brennan Croy said. "We've just started up our company, and we want to get our name out to BSU."
Student-built clothing company Walking Hashtags promoted the event with famous slogan "#BallSoHard," which according to Ball State student and CEO Andrew Wahl is a reference to the "work hard, play hard" mentality of students. It vended shirts with the famous saying to promote school spirit.
"We are all about our school," Wahl said. "This is something students are proud of."
While fresh companies were getting their name out to the Neely Fest crowd, some students were there getting support for their organizations, such as business fraternity Phi Sigma Epsilon. Through a cash-prize raffle, it aimed to help fund its annual convention trip.
"I think it would be a good idea if more student organizations use this as a tool, as a way to recruit or get their name out," junior fashion merchandising and designing major Clarissa Fraker said.
LOSS AND GAIN
Jim Mansfield, president of the Delaware County Fair board, attended the festival start to finish and said the students were well behaved and had fun.
"Obviously I'm 63 _ and this isn't exactly my brand of music - but it seems like the students were enjoying themselves, and that's what the fairgrounds are for," Mansfield said, "It's important that we as the fair board engage the student population in the university. We want to be a friendly neighbor."
Mansfield also said the other fair board members in attendance were impressed at the event organization. According to Thomas, the amount made in sales was $20,000, $5,000 less than the event cost. Thomas said this loss was because this was the first festival and was to be expected. Nonetheless, he said he looks forward to a second Neely Fest next year. Though cash was lost, admiration of students and the community were gained.
"This is entrepreneurship at its best. ... [Neely Fest] is happening for a good reason. We have innovative kids making an event happen to help out the community," McCoy said.
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