The Tower Lawn was jam packed Saturday afternoon with hundreds of students attending the University of Idaho’s annual Palousafest.
The event was created to introduce the many opportunities on campus to new or returning students, and many incoming students felt excited and invigorated by what the festival had to offer.
Freshman Holly Terrill was struck by how many different campus clubs were present at the event and how inclusive and welcoming they all seemed. Her friend Kaarin Von Bargen agreed.
Diamond Koloski | Argonaut America’s Got Talent runner-up Cas Haley performs at Palousafest on Saturday night.
“This event has made me feel like more of a student already,” Von Bargen said. “Just getting familiar, just getting comfortable on campus, this event was a lot of fun.”
While students were busy mingling with each other and introducing themselves to various clubs on campus, two musical groups played music throughout the day. The first, solo act Cas Haley, jammed away with a blend of covers and originals in his unique, bluesy voice.
Haley prefers to play slow moving, meditative music that allows him to achieve stillness and peace while on stage.
“I try and slow down my pace and just breathe,” he said. “My end goal is to enjoy myself, if I enjoy myself the vibes are right.”
Haley’s calm vibes were evident from the Tower Lawn, and he said he enjoyed himself while playing during the warm, Moscow evening.
“My favorite tunes just come from the emotion in my life … we are such empathetic beings, people will feel you and understand your feelings,” Haley said.
This empathy was evident in the numerous students watching him attentively, many bobbing their heads or swaying to his soothing tunes.
While Haley performed, those running club booths tried to pull incoming students in, encouraging them to attend socials and other get-togethers.
One student, Brooke Luzzi, helped run the Resonate Church booth, a popular local church that caters to students attending school in Moscow.
“It was a really great event. To come and meet some of the new students and talk to them a little bit on what we are about,” she said. “The fun stuff that our groups are doing, and just see everyone and get the word out. It’s really sweet to be apart of Palousafest and a part of the UI community.”
After Haley finished his performance and the various booths closed up shop, the main headliner, Jet West took stage to give a rousing, festival closing performance.
The San Diego, California, based band, made up of bassist Deren Schneider, guitarist Chris Warner, drummer Derek Potter, pianist Jack Taylor and lead singer Scott Floquet believes in sharing a positive, happy-spirited message in their music.
“The lyrics are all philosophical, they are all about positivity,” Warner said. “I really feel that it’s about creating a better environment for both the listeners and the music fans that listen to us. It’s about creating something special that we can appreciate and share to others. Writing lyrics that people can relate to, that people can have an emotional attachment to.”
With the clear success of this year’s Palousafest, organizers are excited with the prospects of next years festival. Based on this year’s responses, there will be many eager students ready to embrace what the UI campus has to offer in the coming semesters here UI.
Sam Balas can be reached at