Behind the scenes

Volunteers work hard to bring Ferris Fest to campus

Karmin, Reel Big Fish and a variety of local talent took the stage Saturday on Ferris’ West Campus Intramural Fields.

Before Ferris students could enjoy the show, a number of volunteers worked long hours to prepare for the event. Music industry management (MIM) freshman Josh Olszewski was one volunteer who worked with the stage crew.

“On Friday we showed up at 2 (I showed up late because I had to work) to set up the stage,” Olszewski said. “It essentially folded out of a trailer. Then on Saturday we showed up bright and early at 6:30 a.m. to set up all of Karmin’s gear as well as loading in all of the backline gear.”

MIM junior Bryan Hinrichs, stage crew co-head and next year’s Ferris Fest co-coordinator, had glowing praise for his crew.

“The stage crew was fantastic,” Hinrichs said. “The stage crew worked extremely hard and they all did a wonderful job. Without all their hard work, the festival would not have been as great of a success, and I am very grateful for everything they did.”

The work extended well into the night, though it was wrapped up both ahead of schedule and well before last year’s post-midnight finish. According to Hinrichs, the crew finished under both the 60-minute scheduled time for Karmin’s load-in and the three-hour time for tear-down. This was facilitated by having a stage that folded out from a trailer, making for more efficient tear-down.

The crew was put together and run by MIM students, a traditional collaboration between the Music Industry Management Association (MIMA) and Entertainment Unlimited. This year’s crew was co-headed by Hinrichs and sophomore Daniel Leusink.

“I jumped on board when [Hinrichs and Leusink] told the MIMA membership that they were looking for a dozen people to be a part of their stage crew,” MIM senior and second-year crew member Katelyn Opperman said.

“Setting up the stage is hard work, but during each band’s set we had some down time to actually listen and enjoy the festival. I even got to go in front of the stage and throw swedish fish into the crowd during Reel Big Fish,” Olszewski said. “So yeah, stage crew is a lot of work, but in the end you build a lot of cool relationships with fellow students, as well as the stage professionals and artists. I will definitely help out again next year.”