Despite discontent with Fling lineup, guest pass sales remain steady

With Spring Fling just a week and a half away, students from other schools are booking their bus and train tickets to come to Penn.

Wharton and Nursing senior, and one of three Fling directors this year, Kelly Chen said that as of Monday, 170 guest passes for non-Penn students have been sold, which is about the same number of passes sold this time last year.

“Usually it’s around 150 — we started last Monday but no one’s ever thinking about Fling that far in advance,” Chen said. “The rush starts this Friday and then it becomes 50-100 people per day … the last three days are absolutely crazy.”

SPEC is allowed to sell up to 2,000 guest passes a year, as agreed upon by the administration.

“We sold all 2,000 [passes] last year and the year before … it’s been consistent for at least 4 or 5 years,” Chen said.

Chen also noted that guest passes are not being bought to bypass security that will be stationed in the Quad for this year’s fling activities, in light of a new security policy that prevents non-Quad residents from entering the buildings.

“I think the prices are enough that it deters people from buying guest passes to enter the quad buildings,” Chen said.

While the number of guests has not decreased, a number of Penn students are leaving campus for other concerts nearby.

For example, some students have planned a trip to see Alesso at Villanova University.

“The artists that are performing at our Fling aren’t worth a $35 ticket. I haven’t heard of two of them and the third isn’t my style,” Engineering freshman Meriah O’Neil said. “I actually really love Alesso and the tickets are cheaper. I can’t rationalize going to Fling considering all of that.”

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