Fest season is wild every year. From riots to couch burning, houses with front yards turn to mud pits from hundreds of shoes mixing with Athens’ springtime rains. Every year, dozens of students get fined or arrested for getting too ratchet to be in public. In defense of OU students, most of the time many of the kids who do get in trouble for drinking shenanigans are from other universities. Just saying.
While the Fests aren’t actually affiliated with OU or the city, both organizations are still big factors in whether the Fests are allowed, and to what extent. The student-run organization who hosts the varying festivals is Brick Life Entertainment. They’re all about students having something fun to look forward to in the Spring, but they’re also about doing it in a respectful, non-destructive way.
First of all, if what happens last year happens again, OU will probably announce the Fest Season isn’t happening. It’d be a bummer – we get it. But there is a high-key global pandemic going on, and you don’t want to make it worse. Plus, you can bet there’ll be plain-clothes cops out wandering around to make sure people aren’t gathering/partying in fest-sized groups.
Our Top 10 Tips for Keeping Fest Season Fun
Fingers crossed Fest Season happens this year. Either way, Pro-Tip: The police are never allowed to enter your home without a warrant – even when you’re in a student rental. It’s functionally (read: legally) your home. You have every right to talk to them outside, should they knock on your door. Be cooperative and polite, but know your rights.
You can have a great time (and more than a couple beers) without ending up in a holding cell. Just keep these simple rules to ensure you and your friends stay safe and don’t end up assaulting any police horses:
1. Don’t get so rowdy you disturb the neighborhood. It takes one cranky senior or a new mom 10 blocks down who can’t get her baby to sleep for the cops to show up and shut you down for nuisance violations.
2. Don’t serve alcohol to underage kids. Obviously.
3. Keep ALL open alcohol on your private property. Think of it like an electric fence for not getting arrested. Even the sidewalk out front of your rental house is considered “public,” and you can get taken down by open container laws. Again – plain-clothes cops. They’ll be out, Fest or not.
4. If it’s your home, even though it’s just a house you’re renting, you’re still the liable one, as the host of a party. Don’t get smashed. Don’t be passed out while someone does something stupid or gets in a fight outside. You’ll wake up hungover and in trouble with the law… and your landlord.
5. Keep people from trying to drive by doing a key bowl. Take a mixing bowl from the kitchen and have everyone who drove put their keys in it. Put it somewhere easy to get but not easy to see. You are now the keeper of the keys. If Steph is swaying back and forth when she asks for her keys back at 11pm, let her sleep it off on your couch. Friends don’t let friends drunk drive.
6. Bar and party hopping? ALWAYS keep your ID on you.
7. Buddy system all the way. You should be doing this anytime you’re out drinking anyway.
8. Don’t litter; clean up after yourself. The more put together your event looks, the less likely you are to become a target of the undercover cops, which our police chief pretty much guaranteed will be milling around this year.
9. In case anyone forgot, recreational marijuana is still illegal. Don’t be smoking on your front porch – you’re asking to get fined.
10. Be respectful of the police patrolling the area. At the end of the day, they’re there to keep people safe. Plus, the more students cooperate with official guidelines during Fest Season, the better relationship with OU and the police, which means less animosity, more freedom, and more compassion in cases of honest mistakes and not outright negligence. Like the sidewalk thing.
Pro Tip: Looking for a hangover cure after a night of partying? Our three favorite fest recovery methods are:
- Bloody mary’s from the Pub because – you know – hair of the dog. And The Pub’s bloody mary’s are tops.
- A day at Stroud’s. Beach time, a boat rental and some carby snacks out on the lake does wonders for that heavy headache.
- Feeling like you literally cannot drag yourself from your bed? DoorDash + Taco Bell.
Keep these tips in mind and make this comeback Fest Season the best one yet!