MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia University introduced FallFest in 1995 an effort to put the brakes on block parties in the Sunnyside neighborhood that traditionally coincided with the beginning of fall semester class.
For this year, the annual fall concert has been refreshed with what’s called Mountaineer Midway and a Movie as the final attraction before fall semester classes begin Tuesday.
WVU Vice President of Student Life Gary Furbee said moving away from a national headlining act allows them to focus on other activities designed to help new freshman learn about the campus and the city of Morgantown. Some of those activities are Midnight Mountaineer at the Student Rec Center, Student Organization Fair, WVUp All Night, and of course, Sunday Night Lights.
“Now we’re able to highlight those a little more and really spread out and think about the whole week as a whole and not just one particular event,” Furbee said this week on WAJR’s “Talk of the Town.”
Furbee said through the years the university was able to bring in performers like Maroon 5, Ludacris, Third Eye Blind, Wyclef Jean, Dierks Bentley, and Kendrick Lamar for FallFest but it became increasingly very difficult in recent years to identify performers that had universal appeal who were in the early stages of their careers.
“Those were always up-and-coming acts who then went on to great success, and the reality of today’s world is that is more and more difficult,” Furbee said. “The moment someone even has a spark of success, social media is all over it—there are no longer up-and-coming acts.”
The new signature event is called Mountaineer Midway and a Movie on the lawn of the Life Sciences Building set for Monday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. That will include a Ferris Wheel, carnival games, food trucks, souvenirs, and a showing of the movie Project Hail Mary starring Ryan Gosling.
“We’re going to have a DJ Monday afternoon and into the evening leading up to some of the events that will be capped off with the movie,” Furbee said. “We’re not tasking all of that away entirely, but it is a more low-key event.”
This Saturday a student favorite, WVUp All Night, returns to the Mountainlair from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday. Students and guests that are 17 and older will have inflatable obstacle courses, bowling, billiards, game shows, bingo, trivia, and laser tag.
“It is an opportunity for a lot of our students who don’t want to go downtown to hang out with friends, and they do it,” Furbee said. “In the fall semester of last year I think we clocked in 60,000 students through the semester coming and going from the Mountainlair for Up All Night.”
Sunday Night Lights will be held on Mountaineer Field for the class of 2030 to step on the football field and have their class picture taken. Furbee said it is traditionally a very popular bonding moment for each class of freshman.
“Ultimately, the weekend it culminates with then all going onto the field with our marching band forming the state outline, and the students fill that in, and we take what’s called the class photo,” Furbee said.