Poets get psyched at Psych Circus

Drue Grahman, Leandro Fefer, Campus Life - By Leandro Fefer on Thursday, April 19, 2012 - 05:44

The Sachsen Society had hosted eight bands, a tie-dye operation, an inflatable bouncy house, hookah table, free henna tattooing and a Slip ‘n Slide during this year’s Psychedelic Circus. On a sunny Saturday, April 14 the Sachsen Society turned the Upper Quad into a fair ground for their yearly event that was hailed in their views as one of the best ones ever.

Junior Casey Connorton is one of the Sachsen Society’s social chairs and was one of the main organizers for this event. “It turned out really great,” Connorton said. “This is one of the biggest turn outs we’ve ever had.”

The large turn out was partially due to the fact that this event attracted more than just Whittier students. Amongst the circus-goers where residents of West Covina, West Covina high school students and even a student from University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC).

Sachsen President junior Cody Reese felt that this festival was a great representation of Sachsen values. “This is the kind of vibe the Sachsen Society likes,” Reese said. “Just people having fun and good music in the background.”

UCSC senior Mark Atkinson was pleasantly impressed with the festival. “It’s nice, mellow, fun in the sun,” Atkinson said. “It’s fun to have the different stations and we could never have a hookah station at a UCSC event.”

Students who attended the circus enjoyed sunshine, fun activities and free music while they took home souvenirs of tie-died clothing and new henna body art. Sophomore Gabe Alvarez was the DJ who played between the band preformances. “I love it,” Alvarez said. “It’s calm, chill and everybody is having a great time.”

The eight bands that preformed were from all over California and included Whittier College student sophomore Saad Siddiqi, Nu Mecca, Valora and Static Boom. The lead vocalist of Valora, Syd Duran, was a Whittier native who signed a record deal with Hollywood records in 2008. “It was a great, fun atmosphere,” Duran said. “Sometimes when we do shows in L.A., people just stand around trying to look cooler than the person next to them. But here people were really engaged. We got our money and had fun.”

The entire event was held for around $5,200, according to Connorton, $100 of which came out of the Sachsen fund and $5,100 of which came from ASWC Senate. “We got exactly what we asked for,” Connorton said. “We just wanted to have a unique and fun event.”