The Bacchanal Student Committee makes yet another polarizing announcement– this year it’s moving our CAMPUS spring concert OFF CAMPUS. 

On the morning of Friday, December 6th, Bacchanal’s Student Committee announced that the location for this spring’s Bacchanal would be moved off-campus to The Bowery Presents: Terminal 5, in a post on the Bacchanal Instagram. The post asked viewers to refer to “the full press release,” an official statement announcing the change.

The official statement reads that the change stemmed from a student survey conducted by the Bacchanal Student Committee last year. The survey revealed that the “majority [of students] voted in favor of the change” to move the annual music event off-campus. The statement noted how “[t]urning Low Plaza into a concert space is a costly venture,” explaining how the move to Terminal 5 would save “a large portion of [the] budget,” thus increasing “how much allocation can go to artists.” The statement also explained how moving Bacchanal off-campus would address the additional concerns of ticketing, transportation, and accessibility. Students will be given round-trip metro cards as needed and “Columbia Disability Service and Barnard CARDS will provide accessible transportation to and from the venue upon request”.

Terminal 5 is a music venue that has hosted artists such as King Princess, Charli XCX, Rich Brian, Lizzo, Jaden Smith, NGHTMRE, Louis The Child, and Jay Park in the past year. The closest way to get to the venue from campus is the 1 train, but since the venue is by the Hudson River, that includes a 15-minute walk. With this move, Columbia will be the first Ivy League to ever have their spring concert off campus.

After incidents of conflicting information from the Bacchanal Student Committee last year regarding the possible lack of a headliner and later reveal of SOPHIE as the said headliner, Bwog confirmed the statement’s validity with the Bacchanal Executive Board, who revealed that “[the] announcement is true.” The Bacchanal Executive Board did not comment on the location change.
While there may be a concern that the off-campus move could decrease the CU community spirit provided by Bacchanal, the Bacchanal Student Committee addressed this concern by asking “everyone to keep an open mind.”

image via Bwog archives