Cue the crowds, the songs, and the metallic outfits. All of these elements came together on Northwestern's 51st Dillow Day, run by Mayfest Productions. The largest student-run music festival in the country, Dillow Day, took place May 20th on the Lakeville. From the Daily Northwestern, I'm Erika Schmidt.
This is Season 3, Episode 8 of Digital Diaries, a weekly podcast following the college experience and asking students questions about Life on Northwestern. A couple of weeks ago, we talked with some students about their preparations for Dillow Day, and reflected on last year's event, which involved a lot of cowboy hats and mud. In this episode, we decided it was only fair to highlight what Dillow looked like for Northwestern students this year. Weinberg's sophomore, Anna Decca, celebrated her first Dillow Day this weekend with a very early start, like many other students.
We woke up really early, me and my friends, and we went out and they had the bagel situation set up, so it was fun to see everyone else getting bagels, running around campus with their friends and all dressed up. And according to Decca, the day, lived up to the hype, because I was almost nervous about that going in, I was like, oh, I don't know. While she was at University of California, Davis, her first year in college, Decca said their school had something called Picnic Day, which was similar to Dillow, but mine is the concerts. They were like parties throughout the day and then stuff happening on campus.
And I remember that didn't end up being as fun as like people said it would be, but I feel like Dillow was genuinely, really good time. After a nap, Decca went to the sets for artist Bristen Moroni and Offset in the evening. Since we went from Princeton, Moroni, we were a little closer to the stage. There were definitely a lot of people there, so it was like a very like mosh situation, where we were, but it was just a fun vibe.
Decca recommends anyone attending Dillow to go to parties and concerts with friends you feel comfortable with. I feel like that was helpful, just so that like we had a close group that I was with that we sort of traveled with and having a buddy too, because at least at the concert, like I got separated for like half of my friends. Unlike Decca, Medell freshman Brandon Kondritz started his first Dillow day with a restful night of sleep. I woke up, not as early as some other people that I have heard of.
I was up probably around like 9, 30, 10 o'clock. My friends and I, we just kind of hung out for a little bit, had a nice like little breakfast moment, and then we went out to the lake fill and kind of saw some of the grooves, enjoyed the weather. Kondritz later got lunch on the lake fill. The food trucks, a little expensive, but that was okay.
I feel like the cheeses was well worth it. Kondritz said all the lying in the sun, combined with the busy morning, left him feeling tired. The Dillow midday nap really hit different. I will tell you that.
And I'm not usually one who takes naps. It really like helped recharge me and get me ready to go. Post-nap, he saw a range of artists, but his favorite set, Breston Maroney. My friend and I, Kate, we got right up at the front against the barricades.
So that was super fun and exciting, and I'm glad I got to see him live and in person. He was even better live than he is recorded, which was exciting. Kondritz left the barricade before the offset show to listen from the back of the mosh. I got a friend, I got a friend, I got a friend.
One takeaway from Kondritz's experience was to drink some water for the love of God, please drink water. You're walking quite a bit. You're out and about all day. A lot of people were getting up early, you know, staying up throughout the day.
Ultimately, Kondritz says he liked the sense of community students built on campus last weekend. Dillow day is a rare occasion because it's the one time of the year where the whole Northwestern community gets together. I feel like we don't really see all four grade levels coming together for an event very often. And so I thought that it was super cool to be able to see my friends who are seniors on the Lakeville and be walking with my friends who are freshmen.
I thought that that was really neat. This was Weinberg's senior, Lillie Meng's last Dillow day. Due to COVID-19, she says this was her second year celebrating and compared to last year. I think this year is much better than last year, not muddy, not muddy, not rainy.
Meng's apartment was crowded last weekend with her high school friend from Minnesota and her friends back from studying abroad all staying there for Dillow. It was a lot of people at our apartment getting ready for Dillow or preparing, getting breakfast and it was a little bit chaotic, really fun. And then the morning we went to Sundardi's where they came back home and ate lunch and like napped. For reference, Adardi is a day party.
Meng's motto for Dillow day. It's a marathon out of sprint. I feel like everyone starts out super strong. They're like, let's start drinking now, going crazy now.
It's not necessary. Take a chill and then just like be able to see the performance you want to see because I know in the past, like some people have missed performances due to like being so exhausted and like partying too hard in the morning. Meng's wisdom worked in her favor. She went to two night shows, Briston Roney and Offset.
I really like Briston Roney because I was like such a vibie, vibie times with my best friends and really standing with the sunset and obviously Offset was crazy. Then we went like your phone and so on. We were all like dancing along, so I was super fun. Overall, Meng says she had a great time partying hard.
The next day we woke up at like 2 p.m. From the Daily Northwestern, I'm Erica Schmidt. Thanks for listening to the last episode of this season's Digital Diaries. This episode was reported and produced by me.
The audio editor of the Daily Northwestern is Mika Ellison. The digital managing editors are Ava Vandoli and myself and the editor in chief is Alex Perry. Make sure to subscribe to the Daily Northwestern's podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or SoundCloud to hear more episodes like this.