This year's AnTostal promises to satisfy every student's need for a final week of fun and relaxation before finals through an endless supply of free food and giveaways, continuous streaming of "Animal House" on NDTV, a beach party and much more.
Gaelic for "the festival," AnTostal is an annual tradition sponsored by the Student Union Board (SUB). This year's theme, "So College," embraces aspects of college life students most enjoy, sophomore student programmer Matt Hayes said.
"After long discussions of how we wanted to end the year, we realized that the college life is what we enjoy most throughout the year, so why not celebrate it?" Hayes said. "This is probably the only time in our lives when all of our friends are going to be living so close."
The free food and giveaways going on this week will not surprise students familiar with past AnTostal lineups, but Hayes and fellow sophomore student programmer Brittany Backstrand said their committee has improved on one of last year's giveaways.
"This year, official AnTostal bro tanks will be handed out at various SUB-sponsored events, instead of all at once like in years past," Hayes said. "I think this will help people discover more of the cool things that we have planned, instead of just getting a T-shirt and walking away."
Besides the AnTostal bro tanks, other giveaways this year include sticky hands and bubbles, Jimmy John's sandwiches, Sonic, doughnuts and fresh fruit.
"All the giveaways are pretty awesome this year, and while the food ones will of course get large crowds, I'm pumped for the glow-in-the-dark shutter shades," Hayes said. "Now, I know some people are saying why would you care if they glow in the dark when you wear sunglasses in the sun, but all the cool kids wear sunglasses at night."
Hayes said he expects Wednesday's "Nineties Night," Saturday's concert at Legends featuring Vanessa Carlton and Sunday's beach party to be the highlights of the week.
"Besides Vanessa Carlton on Saturday, I am most pumped for watching some '90s Nickelodeon on South Quad [on] Wednesday night at 8 [p.m.] and the beach party at St. [Joseph's Beach] at 5 [p.m.]. Who doesn't enjoy some classic '90s Nickelodeon TV shows?" Hayes said. "The beach party is going to be awesome, because we have a band called Joe Moorhead playing island music, as well as a pig roast. St. Joe's Beach is an awesome place that is underused by campus."
Hayes said he has thoroughly enjoyed programming for AnTostal this year, as the spring festival represents another great Notre Dame tradition.
"I enjoy AnTostal because of the quirkiness of it," he said. "I like how you can be walking around campus and all of a sudden, a giveaway or a carnival appears in front of you."
AnTostal is special because it presents students with a final opportunity to spend a significant amount of time together before finals kick in and friends part ways for the summer break, Hayes said.
"I want to encourage all students to come out and have fun. Studying two weeks in advance for finals is overrated," Hayes said. "You only live once, and when you look back on your college days, you won't remember the grades you got, but the experiences you had with friends."
AnTostal begins today at 9:15 a.m. with free coffee and donuts outside DeBartolo Hall and ends with the beach party on Sunday. For a full list of AnTostal events, friend "Anne Tostal" on Facebook, or follow SUB on Twitter and Facebook.
