# Spring Weekend

Spring Weekend is a student-organized music festival hosted annually in April at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Spring Weekend was officially founded in 1950, though is rooted in a late 19th century spring festival tradition known as Junior Promenade. Celebrity artists were first brought to campus starting in the 1960s.
The festival is organized by the Brown Concert Agency, a student group overseen by Brown's Student Activities Office and funded by the university's Undergraduate Finance Board. Historical Spring Weekend acts include Bob Dylan (1964 and 1997), Ella Fitzgerald (1965), Ray Charles (1967), James Brown (1968), Bruce Springsteen (1974), U2 (1983), R.E.M. (1985), and Sonic Youth (1998). More recent headliners include Snoop Dogg (2010), Childish Gambino (2012), Kendrick Lamar (2013), Young Thug (2017), Daniel Caesar (2019), and Mitski (2019). Noted non-musical Spring Weekend guests include Martin Luther King Jr. (1967) and Allen Ginsberg (1968).
In 2020, the festival was cancelled for the first time since 1950 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

## History
### Junior Promenade

Spring Weekend is rooted in a late 19th century spring tradition at Brown known as Junior Promenade. In 1897, the university's Junior Class Committee met to discuss the possibility of a spring celebration; while originally dismissed, the idea resurfaced the following year and gained approval; the inaugural Junior Promenade was held in 1898. In 1901, the tradition was restructured as Junior Week, adopting a longer and more diverse program of events and student performances.

### Early iterations

Junior Week and Promenade lapsed during World War II and in 1948 were replaced with All-Campus Weekend. Spring Weekend, in turn, succeeded All-Campus Weekend in 1950. The inaugural Spring Weekend featured club events, student performances, athletic contests, a buffet, and dances held in Faunce House and fraternity houses. In the 1960s, concerts and shows featuring celebrity artists replaced student performances and dances. In 1960, students formed the Brown Concert Agency to plan and organize the event. Headliners of the festival in its early years included Bob Dylan (1964) and Ella Fitzgerald (1965). In 1967, the festival featured Peter, Paul and Mary, Ray Charles, and Jefferson Airplane; Martin Luther King Jr., in Providence on other business, preached at the Sunday morning Protestant service held in Sayles Hall.
The 1968 festival was larger than its predecessors and marked Spring Weekend's transition from a "drunken brawl" into a "classier affair." Ira Magaziner, an organizer of the event wrote of the festival "We had James Brown, Dionne Warwick, Procol Harum, the Yardbirds and Dizzy Gillespie; for the poetry crowd we had Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghett... To launch the event, we chartered a small airplane to fly over the college green and dump thousands of colored ping pong balls stamped with WELCOME SPRING WEEKEND."
1969 headliners included Janis Joplin, who, according to The Brown Daily Herald, "Hunching, jumping, lunging at the microphone, stamping, clawing the air, the Blue-Eyed Soul Sister electrified an audience she huskily called ‘groovy.’” Gordon Lightfoot, Smokey Robinson, Carlos Montoya and Herbie Mann also performed.

### 1970–1999

Noted Spring Weekend acts in the 1970s included Tina Turner (1972) Bruce Springsteen (1974). Guests in the 1980s include U2 (1983), R.E.M. (1985), and Elvis Costello (1987). In 1984, following the passage of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act and Rhode Island's subsequent raising of the legal drinking age, the university brought off-duty state troopers to campus to perform optional breathalyzer tests. In 1991, Spring Weekend ended a longstanding practice of serving alcohol, apparently motivated by cost and potential liability issues. Artists featured in the 1990s include A Tribe Called Quest (1992), Indigo Girls (1995), Bob Dylan (1997), Sonic Youth (1998), Busta Rhymes and Common (1999).

### 2000–present

Noted guests in the 2000s include Wyclef Jean (2000), Ben Folds (2005), M.I.A. (2008), Vampire Weekend (2008), and Nas (2009). Headliners in the 2010s included Snoop Dogg (2010), Childish Gambino (2012), Kendrick Lamar (2013), Chance the Rapper (2014), Modest Mouse (2015), Mac DeMarco (2016), Young Thug (2017), and Mitski (2019). In 2013, The Brown Daily Herald and other campus press outlets received an email from a user impersonating the Brown Concert Agency that included a fake lineup of artists including "The Sounds of Capitalism," Toro Y Moi, The Postal Service, and Grouper.

#### COVID-19 pandemic

In 2020, the festival was cancelled for the first time since 1950 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Brown Concert Agency did not publicly announce which artists were scheduled to perform at the 2020 festival, although an unsubstantiated rumor purported the lineup to include Doja Cat. The 2021 festival featuring Phoebe Bridgers and KAYTRANADA was held online.

## Lineups

1970–1989 :
| Year | Dates | Headliners |
| 1970 | April 24–26 | Ray CharlesThe BandJefferson AirplaneJohn SebastianJohn Mayall |
| 1971 | April 30–May 2 | Gordon LightfootBonnie RaittBoz ScaggsLaura Nyro |
| 1972 | April 28–30 | Billy PrestonBlue Öyster CultMahavishnu OrchestraThe YoungbloodsNew Riders of the Purple Sage |
| 1973 | May 4–6 | Todd RundgrenFannyLivingston TaylorCountry Joe McDonaldJonathan Edwards |
| 1974 | April 26–28 | Bruce SpringsteenPhil Ochs |
| 1975 | April 25–27 | Harry ChapinJohn MayallRichie Havens |
| 1976 | April 30–May 20 | Buddy Guy and Junior WellsRoy BuchananFirefallGary BurtonJD SoutherThe Holy Modal RoundersRoomful of Blues |
| 1977 | | Leo KottkeRoomful of BluesPousette-Dart Band |
| 1978 | April 28–30 | Bonnie RaittDave BrubeckTower of PowerNRBQ |
| 1979 | April 27–29 | Sun RaAtlanta Rhythm SectionJohn P. HammondAlbert CollinsPousette-Dart Band |
| 1980 | | Jorma Kaukonen & Vital PartsRobin Lane & the Chartbusters |
| 1981 | April 24-27 | NRBQJohn Hall BandJohn AchesonMary Chapin Carpenter |
| 1982 | April 30–May 2 | Graham ParkerToots and the MaytalsDavid Bromberg |
| 1983 | April 29–May 1 | U2NRBQThe Roches |
| 1984 | April 27–29 | Paul YoungArlo GuthrieHoward Jones |
| 1985 | April 26–28 | R.E.M.Afrika BambaataaPablo MosesThe Neats |
| 1986 | April 18–20 | Los LobosTrouble Funk |
| 1987 | April 24–26 | Elvis CostelloNick Lowe |
| 1988 | April 15–17 | NRBQThe Wailers Band |
| 1989 | April 28–30 | Little FeatTom Tom ClubToots and the Maytals |
1990–2009 :
| Year | Dates | Headliners |
| 1990 | April 27–29 | Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers24-7 SpyzTrouble Funk |
| 1991 | April 26–28 | Tito PuenteBoogie Down ProductionsShinehead |
| 1992 | April 17–19 | A Tribe Called QuestDe La SoulMary Chapin Carpenter |
| 1993 | April 9–11 | 10,000 Maniacs Black Sheep |
| 1994 | April 22–24 | Violent FemmesBuddy GuyBuffalo Tom |
| 1995 | April 20–23 | Indigo GirlsDigable PlanetsMorphineBim Skala Bim |
| 1996 | April 11–14 | CoolioFugeesGeorge Clinton and The P-Funk AllstarsChucklehead |
| 1997 | April 17–20 | Bob DylanBo DiddleyThe ToastersThe Slip |
| 1998 | April 16–19 | Sonic YouthKRS-OneRakimGrandmaster FlashYo La TengoLuna |
| 1999 | April 22–25 | Busta RhymesCommonBlack StarMaseoWilcoVic Chesnutt |
| 2000 | April 13–16 | Wyclef JeanKelisG. Love & Special Sauce |
| 2001 | April 19–22 | They Might Be GiantsViolent FemmesJurassic 5 |
| 2002 | April 19–21 | The RootsRufus WainwrightSaves the Day |
| 2003 | April 10–13 | Lisa LoebThe WallflowersThe Donnas |
| 2004 | April 22–25 | Sleater-KinneyJurassic 5Reel Big Fish |
| 2005 | April 21–24 | Ben FoldsTalib KweliThe Shins |
| 2006 | April 20–23 | CommonWilcoOK Go |
| 2007 | April 19–22 | The RootsThe Flaming LipsYo La TengoMission of Burma |
| 2008 | April 10–13 | M.I.A.Vampire WeekendLupe FiascoGirl Talk |
| 2009 | April 17–19 | NasSantigoldof Montreal |
2010– :
| Year | Dates | Headliners |
| 2010 | April 22–25 | Snoop DoggMajor LazerMGMTThe Black Keys |
| 2011 | April 15–17 | Wyclef JeanNicolas JaarTV on the Radio |
| 2012 | April 20–22 | Childish GambinoCam'ronThe Glitch MobThe Walkmen |
| 2013 | April 18–21 | Kendrick LamarA-TrakDirty ProjectorsBig Freedia |
| 2014 | April 11–13 | Chance the RapperDiploLauryn Hill |
| 2015 | April 17–19 | Waka Flocka FlamePusha THudson MohawkeKelelaModest MouseYeasayer |
| 2016 | April 14–17 | Mac DeMarcoThundercatTinasheFetty Wap |
| 2017 | April 27–30 | Young ThugErykah BaduEmpress OfPrincess Nokia |
| 2018 | April 26–29 | Rico NastyAnderson .Paak & The Free NationalsRina SawayamaDRAMNao |
| 2019 | April 26–28 | AminéDaniel CaesarMitski |
| 2020 | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2021 | April 10 | Phoebe BridgersKAYTRANADA |
| 2022 | April 29–30 | Ari LennoxTemsAmaaraeFlo MilliSminoMaye |
| 2023 | April 29–30 | Ethel Cain070 ShakeJIDDoechiiRemi WolfAlice Longyu Gao |
| 2024 | April 21 | Yves TumorJordan WardElyannaWeston Estate |