The 2018 installment of Packapalooza will take over Hillsborough Street this Saturday with different student organizations, local music, university-related activities and food vendors.
Justine Hollingshead, director of NC State Division of Academic and Student Affairs and Packapalooza planning team co-chair, said that there will be more than 300 vendors in attendance at the event.
“We have 342 vendors, including student organizations, campus departments, non-profit, for-profit, the guy selling the turkey leg,” said Hollingshead. “We couldn’t do the event without everyone, it’s literally all across campus. Every college, division and unit participating as well as the off-campus support.”
According to Hollingshead, Packapalooza will have a wide variety of campus colleges and student organizations; however, the event is not designed like a career fair or interest meetings.
“This is not like an organization fair,” Hollingshead said “These organizations are trying to engage everyone with things like prize wheels, corn hole or a rock wall.”
Students will not only be able to learn about different campus organizations, but also engage with them and grab free paraphernalia.
“I’m going to Packapalooza since I know that there are a ton of giveaways; it’s a fun day and so much free stuff,” said Jade Dickinson, a fourth-year studying art and design.
Hollingshead said that thousands of people are expected to be in attendance this year to promote their organizations.
“It’s 8000 people who are coming and engaging, it’s a different type of thing that these vendors are trying to engage people with,” Hollingshead said. “We do spend a lot of time with the student orgs, they all have the chance to sign up and this year we have the most amount signed of any year we’ve done this.”
Packapalooza will conclude at the Belltower stage, with Parmalee performing at 8:45 p.m. and the fireworks finale occurring at 10 p.m. Along with Parmalee, there will be other local performers that will attend and perform throughout the event.
“We try and accommodate as many artists as possible,” Hollingshead said. “The Coke stage isn’t full bands, it’s some acoustic sets, hip-hop artists, smaller groups like a guitar and keyboard or something like that. This year we’re actually featuring a faculty and staff band: Quadrivium.”
Setup for the event begins at 3 a.m. the day of and the public is allowed to enter at 2 p.m., where a “Welcome to Packapalooza” event will be performed on the Coca-Cola stage.
Many of the roads surrounding Hillsborough Street will be closed during Packapalooza. These closures can be found on the City of Raleigh website. More information on the event can be found on the Packapalooza website.
