Even though Fling has come and gone, music festival season at Penn is not over. On Friday April 20th, The Collctve and ZBT are hosting the first ever BLOCkLy Music Festival. The festival’s name comes from Blockly, the original name for University City. The festival “aims to bring Penn back to its roots.” The event will take place at the backlot on 41st St. between Locust and Spruce from 7:15–11 p.m. and will feature performances by over seven Penn acts.
Festival organizer Blake Thomas (E ‘19) says that the event has been a thought for a while, but hasn’t come into fruition until this year. Since this year’s Spring Fling was only one day, Blake felt as though it gave student performers less of a chance to showcase their talents, especially while competing with other social events off campus. By partnering with ZBT, The Collctve is trying to bridge the gap between Greek and non–Greek life, and hopefully “redefine a party at Penn.”
He added that, since Fling usually only presents one type of musical act, the event also is intended to offer more musical variety. When choosing performers for the festival, Blake says that the criteria for acts was simple: diverse and talented. The acts include two DJ acts, three rap acts, and a jazz/R&B act. The final lineup has performances by Johnny High, DummyFresh, Kiki Brookes, RLSTNE, LIMM & NXG, and Blake himself.
Blake says the goal of the festival is ultimately to “bring some great music to a bunch of people who wouldn’t hear it otherwise.” He feels like, usually at Penn, you have to actively seek out music from your peers. He wants to “flip the script and bring it to you.”
Tickets are being sold by The Collctve for an early bird price of $10 and a general admission price of $15.
