Tech will celebrate Student Appreciation Day, an annual event better known as Sting Break, on Thursday, April 10. In the past years, Sting Break has held a concert and invited several mainstream bands to the campus. This time is no different, as the band OK Go will be the featured act this year. In addition to the concert, people taking part in String Break will also be able to participate in carnival rides, a 120 foot obstacle course and a gladiator jousting arena, all related to this year’s theme “Joustin’ Jackets.”
According to Student Center Programs Council Festival Committee member Pulin Patel, holding Sting Break in the Burger Bowl will be a deviation from the norm. He cited drought restrictions as the primary reason for the change.
“The drought has limited our options for locations this year. We evaluated our options to find the optimal place,” Patel said. “In the end, we felt the Burger Bowl provided the best area to provide enough space for all of the events we wanted to have and still be accessible to the campus.”
Activities will kick off at 11 a.m. with giveaways and food, in addition to the featured rides and activities.
“We will be bringing back the popular carnival rides with two new attractions: the Hurricane and the High Flier,” Patel said.
There will also be an XBOX 360 Tour coming to the event along with the usual attractions of free food and t-shirts. The activities will last until 2 p.m., with the XBOX 360 Tour and rides running on until 4 p.m.
The evening’s concert will then begin at 8 p.m., and it will be located at the Centergy parking lot of Tech Square. The opening act will be the band Cartel. The five member power punk band was formed in 2003 and hails from Conyers, GA. The featured act will be the Grammy Award winning band OK Go, most famous for their songs “A Million Ways” and “Here It Goes Again”, the music video for the latter featured the members of the band performing a synchronized dance on treadmills.
Past acts featured for the Sting Break concert have been Ludacris, T.I and Big Boi. The two rock bands for this year have been booked partially because of complaints from having three consecutive hip-hop concerts.
Students are encouraged to come early to get the most out of the event. They are required to bring their Buzzcards and must not bring personal items like bags and purses. They are also not allowed to bring coolers.