On Thursday evening from 7 to 11 p.m., Cavanaugh Hall hosted its first-ever Cavchella in a tent on North Quad. The event featured student musical performances and DJs who played atop a stage within the tent.
Students paid $10 for admission tickets and then received yellow wristbands. Students were also able to buy pancakes and purple Cavchella t-shirts for $15. The event’s proceeds supported Margaret’s House, a nonprofit day center for women and children in South Bend.
“Our rector makes pancakes for us every Monday, and we used to do these chaotic brownies, filled with chocolate chips, Oreos or chocolate chip cookies. So we’re combining those two things, doing pancakes with a lot of stuff in it,” hall vice president sophomore Carys Anderson said.
The show kicked off with a performance by senior Libby Garnett and sophomore Maura McMahon, who played a set of pop songs acoustically. The crowd eagerly requested Charlie XCX’s “party 4 u,” which Garnett joked would be a more “emo” version with the guitar, as the song’s lyrics are more negative than the music implies.
At 8 p.m., the Occasional College Students (OCS) performed, featuring lead singer junior Cecilia Savard, a resident of Cavanaugh Hall. The band covered songs such as Olivia Rodrigo’s “good 4 u”, “This Love” by Maroon 5 and “Valerie” by Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse. The band’s drummer announced that some of his friends had come from St. Louis just to see the show and urged the crowd to give them a big round of applause.
Block 250, led by sophomore Kathryn Fine, took the stage at 8:30 p.m. They played a variety of songs, including “Brazil” by Declan McKenna.
As the night went on, the crowd continued to grow larger. DJs came on the scene at 9:15p.m., where the concert became more rave like.
Cavchella evolved from Cavanaugh’s previous signature event, Cavaret. The event featured a variety show of different Notre Dame bands, singing groups and dance troupes with a dinner to follow.
According to Cavanaugh Hall’s president, junior Emma Latchford, last year’s show was “rained out and because of that, we didn’t really have a huge turnout.”
Latchford mentioned that while brainstorming for the event, the planning team wanted one that would be fun and engaging for residents to attend.
“Our exec team was thinking of revamping the event to be more fun, and we came up with Cavchella … We thought this type of event would be more fitting to students and Cav girls,” Latchford said.
They also wanted to create an event that was similar to what college students typically do and enjoy. Latchford noted how music is a huge thing among the student demographic.
“We were just trying to come up with something that fit what college kids like to do and they like to listen to music. They like to listen to their friends play in bands. House music is really popular right now, so we were like, ‘Let’s get some DJs, let’s do a rave,’” she said.
Latchford and the Cavanaugh team took inspiration from Greek life at other universities.
“I’ve seen sororities doing rave-themed events for their work week and stuff like that. So we just felt like it was a big, popular thing amongst kids our age. And so that’s kind of where we came up with the idea,” Latchford said.
To promote the new event, Cavanaugh hosted “CAVaroke” on Oct. 3 on North Quad, where students could stop by and purchase tickets for Cavchella. The hall also ran a bake sale on Oct. 6, put up informational flyers in both dining halls and sold t-shirts in North Dining Hall during lunch hours.
