The line to get into the first-ever ChirpFest wrapped around the block the night of Sept. 19. The electronic dance music festival on North Dill Street attracted about 3,500 people, said organizer Darius Norwood and partner Alex Smith.
Eight different musicians and DJs from Muncie and Fort Wayne performed for ChirpFest attendees. The crowd danced to the music, sang along, played with beach balls and watched fire breathers. Students could grab snacks from an El Paraiso Mexican Grill and Bar food truck or a drink at a bar if they were of age.
Ball State students Darius Norwood and Chris Cammack created ChirpFest and worked for months to bring their idea to life.
They stayed busy throughout the night and could be found on stage, directing their team of over 30 people or occasionally talking to attendees.
“It is so surreal right now. When I got on stage for the first time, I almost shed tears,” Norwood said.
Check out our photo gallery from ChirpFest
He mentioned that it had been his dream to bring a festival to Muncie since his sophomore year.
The two promoted the festival with bus advertisements, t-shirts and social media posts.
Ashley Williams, a senior journalism major, said that’s part of how she heard about ChirpFest.
“I follow Darius online and heard about it,” she said. “Then I started seeing the flyers all over Muncie.”
Chris Seibert, a sophomore telecommunications digital video production major and attendee, is a fan of electronic dance music. Seibert showed up to ChirpFest with a group of friends at 6 p.m., the beginning of the festival.
“At first there were only like 20 people, but over the night more people have come,” he said.
Cammack and Norwood received some help with ChirpFest by partnering with BAALS, a company that hosts music festivals in Fort Wayne.
“Chris and Darius had this idea and we just helped them develop it,” said Alex Smith, co-founder of BAALS.
He commended the duo for the work they put in to promote it.
The two hope to make ChirpFest a Ball State tradition that occurs once a semester. Some attendees supported this idea.
“If they do this annually, I am pretty sure I will be back," Williams said.
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