If a week is too long for some students to wait for the fun of Spring Fling, this weekend might be the answer -- and it's all for free.
Skimmer Weekend 2002 will invade campus today and tomorrow, with events ranging from free food and live concerts to sports tournaments and a DJ.
The revelry will kick off with a pre-Skimmer event this afternoon in Wynn Commons, co-sponsored by the Junior and Freshman Class Boards. The boards have arranged for Pat's Cheesesteaks to cook approximately 1,000 of the famous Philadelphia dish on site. There will also be additional food provided by the Center City Pretzel Company.
"Everyone loves Pat's," Junior Class President Billy Moore said. "It's springtime now, the weather is warm, and I felt this would be a great way to get a lot of members of our class to come out. We're going until the meat is gone."
To add to the pre-Skimmer festivities, there will be a DJ playing what Moore describes as "hip-hop, pop, trance" and music that is "basically geared towards college students."
And that is only the beginning.
Skimmer itself -- sponsored by the Sophomore Class Board -- will be held this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Fairmont Park on the Schuylkill River. Buses to the site will be provided throughout the day, departing from the Upper Quad gate at 37th and Spruce streets.
The day's events will begin with a kickball tournament -- organized by the Freshman Class Board -- music and carnival games.
But the real show begins at 1:30 p.m., when the event's headliner -- cover band Burnt Sienna -- comes on stage. Burnt Sienna played at Penn earlier this year as part of New Student Orientation. The band will be followed by Penn groups Onda Latina, the Quaker Girls and Pennsylvania Six-5,000.
Sophomore Class President Jason Levy said he expects a great performance out of the groups.
"I'm so excited for Burnt Sienna because they are by far the greatest cover band I've ever heard in my life," Levy said. "They play such a wide range of music, from alternative to rap, and they do it so well, it's absolutely awesome. It's almost better than having Dave Matthews and Cypress Hill because you get a little bit of everything."
An abundance of food will also be available -- and, with any luck, an abundance of good weather.
Last year, the show was forced to be scaled down and moved to Wynn Commons due to rain. However the previous two years' events drew up to 5,000 students.
Skimmer dates back as far as Prohibition, when students cheered crew races on the Schuylkill, and it has been a Penn tradition since the days before Spring Fling. However, the event gained notoriety after a number of alcohol-related incidents.
In 1963, a large brawl broke out at the show among approximately 500 students. In addition, the wife of the assistant dean of men had beer thrown in her face before being thrown to the ground and trampled, and the director of Houston Hall had to be given 18 stitches after attempting to break up the chaos. Students also pushed a Volvo into the nearby river.
In 1972, when students reportedly injected oranges with 200-proof grain alcohol and swam alongside the crew boats, the administration put an end to the tradition, until its revival in 1998.
