Grab a picnic blanket and get ready to groove — UF Homecoming’s Swamp Symphony is scheduled from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday on Flavet Field.
Students and Gainesville community members can attend the free outdoor concert.
“It’s a sampler, really, of the offerings within the College of Fine Arts,” said Andy Howard, spokesman for the college. “A student would spend many evenings trying to see all these groups one night apiece.”
The show will include performances by UF’s Symphony Orchestra, Men’s Glee Club and Jazz Band, along with the University Gospel Choir and Agbedidi African Drum and Dance Ensemble.
The College of Fine Arts and UF Homecoming will be collaborating for the second year to present the event.
About 700 people came to last year’s Swamp Symphony, but organizers said they hope the crowd will be larger on Sunday, director Michael Levey, 19, said.
“The performance last year was great,” the telecommunication sophomore said, “but there are going to be a lot of new surprises to look out for.”
This year, education celebration awards, including the Homecoming Outstanding Faculty Award and the Homecoming Outstanding Mentor of Undergraduate Research Award, will be presented at the concert.
In accordance with this year’s Homecoming theme, “United We Growl,” the concert will honor the armed forces with patriotic songs. Performers will also play renditions of traditional UF songs like “The Orange and Blue” and “We Are The Boys.”
“Our goal is to give everyone the chance to celebrate homecoming in their own way,” said UF Homecoming general chair Hannah Swerdloff, a 21-year-old public relations senior.
Howard said he wanted students to be touched by the arts at UF by creating a new tradition, which he hopes will someday become as common as painting the 34th Street wall.
“Fine arts on this campus have a rich tradition over 100 years old,” he said. “Swamp Symphony is our occasion to celebrate that.”
