On Oct. 4, the Elliot Tower was home to WXOU’s first Harvest Festival event. The event featured live music from three different bands, pumpkin carving with the Student Programing Board (SPB), a screening of Scooby-Doo by Student Video Productions (SVP) and a plethora of art fair vendors from all corners of Oakland University.
Andrew Deacon, WXOU’s event coordinator, explains his initial thoughts on the event.
“It exceeded all expectations,” Deacon said. “It was an entirely new event. This is the first time WXOU has done anything like this. So, the planning was hectic. There were a lot of people involved, a lot of moving pieces, but it was like the perfect storm of things just working out, and people loved it.”
Deacon explains how the idea for the event came to be.
“For Logan Pizzurro, the general manager (of WXOU), one of his big things that he wanted to do this year was a harvest festival,” Deacon said. “It started with Logan’s idea, and SPB just happened to be doing the pumpkin carving of that, so we talked during SPVs Fall Retreat, and we were like, ‘Hey, we’re doing this outdoor concert, and you’re doing the pumpkin carving. Let’s combine.’ I came up with the art fair portion, so then things just built from there.”
Deacon explains why he decided to add the art fair portion.
“I wanted to display the Oakland art community,” Deacon said. “There are so many talented people that I’ve met through WXOU and outside of it that deserve to have their work highlighted.”
For this event, many people had the opportunity to become a vendor and sell their own crafts. For Maya Kirksey, the program director of WXOU with a table full of bracelets and crochet products, this event was her first time vending with her own crafts.
“This is my first time vending, so kind of winging it,” Kirksey said. “I’m used to vending since I volunteer with Arts & Apples. I work at the donut truck, The Little Donut Factory, so I see a lot of vending, and I kind of know how it runs, but this is my first time actually doing it.”
Elisheva Roberts, a student running a table of handmade jewelry, keychains and hand-painted totes, explains how she decided to join as a vendor.
“To be honest, I normally just make them for gifts, but I saw about this, and I was like, why not sell a couple,” Roberts said. “I love sharing art and making art, so I made some extra and brought them over here.”
One person that had prior experience selling their products was Drew Elwarner, founder of the Vintage and Secondhand Fashion Club, and her vintage clothing stand. While she has had an online platform since she was 16 years old, this was her first time selling in-person. Elwarner explains the difference between selling online and selling in person.
“I think selling in person is very exciting,” Elwarner said. “I like seeing How excited everyone gets over the clothes I have, and it makes me happy just seeing people liking my stuff.”
To prepare for her first in-person event, Elwarner explains how she acquired all of her products.
“A lot of the clothing that I have here today is either from my personal closet over the years, from thrift stores, vintage shops, and then to prepare for this specifically, I did get some wholesale packages,” Elwarner said. “So I did some wholesale sweaters, and the sellers sold them to me at a cheaper price. That was my first time buying wholesale and it worked really well.”
While several tables around the event were for single-party individuals, a plethora of clubs from around OU’s campus came to support WXOU and got tables of their own.
Several organizations made appearances, such as StudiOU selling artful prints and other merchandise, the organic farming club Growing Grizzlies offering a variety of flowers and fresh snacks made from their own products, the Oakland University Student Council (OUSC) offering helpful tips about how and why we should vote in the upcoming election, and the new restaurant, O Grizzlies Bar & Bistro, doing a $25 gift card giveaway.
While one club had to cancel due to sickness, Pick It Up! The Euchre Club at Oakland University picked up their table and set up several games of the midwestern card game.
“One of my favorite parts of the event was they literally were just playing Euchre and inviting people to play Euchre with them the entirety of the event,” Deacon said. “They had a random table where one of the artists was going to be and they were having a blast.”
WXOU brought three live band performances to the event, each with their own unique style.
The first performers featured was the Sweet Swinging Six, playing tasteful jazz renditions of popular songs such as Isn’t She Lovely, Sir Duke and Uptown Funk.
The second performer featured was Aniya Gray, a 21-year-old vocalist, songwriter and music producer, playing Rhythm and Blues with her band.
The Third and final performer was Christian Ohly, a popular indie-folk singer and songwriter out of Detroit.
“He was our initial pitch for harvest fest,” Deacon said. “I was blown away by the way that he can tell a story with his lyrics, and just like the tone of his voice, fantastic, and his band was a lot of fun.”
To coincide with SPB’s pumpkin carving, WXOU encouraged students to drop off their finished pumpkins around Elliott Tower, to be lit up once the sun set.
“I don’t normally get emotional at these kinds of things, but when I was walking through seeing all the pumpkins, I teared up a little bit,” Deacon said. “It was an experience that I helped create at Oakland that I don’t think had existed before. It was just, it was beautiful to see everybody come together for this.”
While the Harvest Festival has concluded, one of the event’s collaborations is still ongoing. WXOU and the Grizz Pantry are continuing their food drive raffle until Oct. 11 with the prize of a gift basket containing a sunset lamp, a fall blanket, and a Chappell Roan vinyl.
For more information about the Grizz Pantry and how to donate, visit their OU webpage. For more on WXOU and their events, follow their instagram page @wxouradio or visit their webpage.
