Iowa State announces Veishea alternatives for spring

In messages sent Monday to Iowa State University students, staff and faculty members, President Steven Leath announced two springtime events meant to replace the university's now defunct annual Veishea festival.

For this spring, there will be a celebration in February featuring the sale of cherry pies integrated with other Valentine's Day activities, and there also will be a celebration of arts in April in conjunction with the Cyclone Market. Plans for the next academic year include a student-led community service project, a parade and college showcase and an event to welcome students back to campus for the start of spring semester.

"I want to thank the Spring Event Planning Committee, which consisted of faculty and students, for their thoughtful recommendations," Leath said in the campuswide messages. "Student Government is now spearheading the implementation of these new events and activities."

The proposed activities are designed to replace the former annual event that, from 1922 until 2014, was meant to serve as a celebration of the school. The weeklong celebrations eventually became associated with binge drinking and property damage. The 2014 event was suspended after a weeknight riot occurred, and Leath eventually decided to cancel Veishea altogether.

"I'm not going to continue to put students at risk so that we can preserve what to many has become a weeklong party," Leath said during the August 2014 news conference in which he announced the cancellation.

The Cyclone Market, which began last year, serves as a post-Veishea fundraising opportunity for student organizations — taking the place of the old Veishea Village, said Daniel Breitbarth, president of the ISU Student Government.

"The market already will attract several musical groups on campus and create a carnival-like atmosphere experience at Iowa State," Breitbarth said. "(The new celebration of arts) will create even more opportunities for community members, family members and alumni to come to campus."

Dueling alternatives to fill Veishea-size void were among of the issues during last year's student government campaigns. Breitbarth called for keeping a focus on springtime events, while opposing candidates called for moving the celebrations to the fall.

Breitbarth, one of the seven members of the Spring Event Planning Committee, said the recommendations put forward by the committee were the most feasible short-term options available.

Lacking the two "biggest things" that made Veishea a problem — "It's not called Veishea, and it's not a weeklong event" — Breitbarth said the proposed events were unlikely to lead to the issues that led to the tradition's discontinuation.

Yet Breitbarth also said he also could understand concerns from students that the new alternatives won't be spectacular or extreme enough to rival the energy and draw of Veishea.

"Veishea had been running for nearly 100 years, and it's going to take some time to develop some similar events that will bring in a lot of the community," he said.