Revamped Redfest

By Cassandra Roshu asst. photo editor

Last year, Mike Boccuzzi remembers looking over the Redfest crowd and being astonished by what he saw; the typical SUNY ESF stereotype that danced shoeless and free, fraternity brothers and sorority sisters, graduate students, older Syracuse residents and one person with a yellow and white boa constrictor.

He marveled at the sight of a diverse crowd who collected in one backyard to experience joy through great music.

“It was really an environment where anyone could feel comfortable in because there was no sort of niche crowd that was there,” Boccuzzi said. “It was everyone there all at once.”

Redfest, a music festival run by ESF students at a house on Redfield Place, had been an ESF annual tradition since before 2012 until the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020. Foster Valle, a current ESF student, helped to bring it back in 2022 with the help of alumni and his fellow current students.

Valle and Boccuzzi restarted the event with the help of house resident Tucker Couch as well as Sam Stehle and Will Harrington, who previously ran their own music venue. With their experience playing in their band Pop Culture and presence within the ESF Music Society, they felt confident they could bring Redfest back in a different and better way, Valle said.

While Redfest had primarily been an event for ESF students in the past, Valle said that they want to make it more inclusive of Syracuse University students, as well as the broader community.

“It had really been an ESF thing before and now we’re trying to make it a community thing,” Valle said.