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Annual concert event at the University of California, San Diego From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sun God Festival is an annual campus festival at the University of California, San Diego. Its name references the Sun God, an on-campus statue by French artist Niki de Saint Phalle. The festival takes place every spring quarter. The main stage is traditionally opened by the winner of the Battle of the Bands, a competition that UC San Diego student musicians perform in leading up to the festival.[1]
Sun God Festival | |
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Dates | TBD |
Location(s) | RIMAC Field at UC San Diego |
Years active | 1983 – Present |
Founders | AS Concerts & Events, UC San Diego |
Website | sgf |
The festival is produced by the AS Concerts & Events office and paid for by the student body activity fee. It has featured a vast variety of entertainment 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.
The first Sun God Festival coincided with the one-year anniversary of Sun God's arrival in 1984.[2][3] 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.
Due to the number of students who were being hospitalized from alcohol and drug abuse at the festival, students and administrators opted to eliminate guest tickets and increase safety measures. The changes saw a decrease in hospitalizations from 48 to eight from 2013 to 2014.[4] These measures have improved the safety of the festival, but the loss of guest tickets and the increased security measures have also been a severe detriment to the event budget.
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 festival's tradition, passing the referendum by a margin of nearly 40 percent.[5]
In 2018, Associated Students replaced the headlining act, blackbear, with Roy Woods, when blackbear cancelled on account of a series of pancreatic attacks.[6] In 2020, the Sun God Festival was among the many public events cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, over concerns that the virus could spread quickly at large gatherings such as concerts.[7]
In 2024, Sun God Festival was set to take place on Saturday, May 4, 2024, but was ultimately announced to be cancelled two days prior due to security concerns regarding the 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on campus.[8] Some students remained skeptical as to the reasoning, speculating that the cancellation was an attempt by the administration to cause turmoil in the student population against the protestors.[9]
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.[10]
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