So, you’re organizing a party that runs for three hours. Thousands of guests are coming. You've got three blocks of space in the heart of downtown and you have to feed and entertain everyone.
Easy, right?
“It’s a huge moving puzzle,” says Michelle French, an event coordinator with MacEwan. And she’s got her watchful eye on all of the pieces.
The Downtown Campus Block Party is a collaboration between MacEwan, NorQuest College and the Edmonton Downtown Business Association. What started as a fairly simple welcome back barbeque in 2012 has grown into a much larger event that gives students a chance to have some fun while also finding out more about school services and organizations –as well as the downtown area.
But with growth comes more details that need to be crossed off the list. That list includes getting permits from the city to close streets, organizing security to make sure the event is safe, ordering enough food, getting sponsors involved and lining up all the exhibitors and entertainers who bring the whole thing to life.
At the centre of it all, French says it’s about welcoming students to the new school year – and the downtown community. “It’s a little bit of fun. It’s showing them what life might be like at MacEwan or NorQuest, what downtown’s all about, introducing them to the community that surrounds us.”
It doesn’t all happen without plenty of forethought. French says, for example, that thanks to feedback from students at last year’s event, live entertainment will be more centralized than in years past.
This year there will be live hip-hop music, line dancing lessons from Cook County Saloon and a performance by MacEwan alum Brianna Lizotte, Bachelor of Music ’23, a Métis fiddle player who was nominated for a Juno award last year.
New this year is a zone where partygoers can take a break from all the activity. "There's a lot going on at this event," says French, " so we've created an area where you'll be able to just sit and chill until you're ready to get back in the action – or not!"
The Downtown Campus Block Party takes place on Wednesday, September 3, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. along 108 Street between 102 and 104 Avenue.