Every day this week, students can celebrate the last full week of classes with AnTostal, an annual Notre Dame tradition full of entertainment, food and giveaways.
Junior James Slaven, director of publicity for the Student Union Board (SUB), said AnTostal, which means "the festival" in Gaelic, began in 1977. Slaven said AnTostal programmers Cindy Lin and Bri Leon began preparing for the week-long event almost one year ago.
"They began initial planning last May, and event creation and collaboration efforts have been full steam ahead since early September," Slaven said.
Residence halls across campus sponsor and host AnTostal events, including a wing-eating contest organized by Pasquerilla East Hall and a karaoke contest run by Badin Hall. Both events will take place Thursday. There will be food giveaways every day this week, including bagels from Panera Bread, fudge from Kilwins and hamburgers from CJ's Pub.
"No student, even those who are out of Flex Points, should go hungry this week," Slaven said.
Slaven said he is most excited for tonight's discussion by writers from satirical news source "The Onion," tomorrow's Slow Bike Race on South Quad and Wednesday's talk by the cast of MTV's "The Buried Life."
Slaven said junior Brittany Backstrand, art director for SUB, created this year's Tostalpalooza theme, a play on the Lollapalooza music festival held each year in Chicago.
"Every AnTostal has a different theme," Slaven said. "This year, during the early brainstorming sessions, [Backstrand] came up with the Lollapalooza theme. She attended [the festival] in Chicago, so she led the charge on the design and theme for the week."
AnTostal coincides with a number of well-known University events, including the Blue-Gold Game, Slaven said.
"Several traditional campus events happen during AnTostal, all of which are intentionally during this week, including Bookstore Basketball finals, the Fisher Regatta ... and Keenan's Muddy Sunday," he said.
The SUB spring concert, featuring rapper B.o.B, will close the academic week Friday in the Compton Family Ice Arena.
Slaven said students join in AnTostal festivities in order to have fun and de-stress before final exams.
"The events are put on by students, for students," Slaven said. "The wide variety of events means that there is bound to be something for everyone, and as the school year wraps up, this is one final chance for fun and relaxation with friends before the finals grind."
All AnTostal events are free of cost, with the exception of the B.o.B concert.
"The purpose of AnTostal is to celebrate our students," Slaven said. "It's been a long, busy year, and the last full week of classes deserves some fun and free stuff for everyone."
A full list of the week's events can be found in the AnTostal booklets distributed to each residence hall, as well as on SUB's website.
