Multiple controversies, such as over-an-hour-long technical difficulties and the rolled-up advocacy banners during the performances of some artists, tuned in the deliberations of how this year’s UP Fair went.

The College of Business Administration (CBA) attributed the delay of Quests to a miscommunication between them and the UP Fair Core Team. The folded stage banner during Kalye Tunes, meanwhile, was made at the request of Asintada Management and Production Inc., a floor manager told the Collegian.

Scheduling and Technical Difficulties

Attendees of Quests, the Thursday leg of UP Fair, had to wait for more than an hour after the sound equipment emitted a loud blast in the middle of the set of indie folk band Munimuni around 1 a.m.

Quests night handler UP Junior Finance Association (JFA) explained in a statement that a power shortage with the stage box damaged the speakers on the left side of the stage. 

They were advised by the lights and sounds suppliers to cancel the program entirely, but the handlers chose to resume, with the banner artists Cup of Joe and Ben&Ben left to perform. In the end, Cup of Joe and Ben&Ben performed three songs each instead of the planned up to five tracks.

On the other hand, Itchyworms, one of the banner artists, was unable to perform due to delays that transpired in the morning of the event.

The event also started late due to the rescinding of parking allocations by the CBA, which delayed drop-offs for artists and production vehicles in the morning. This part of the operations was under the control of the UP Fair Core Team, according to Quests organizers.

Business Administration college secretary Erik Capistrano told the Collegian that the decision was due to a schedule conflict with the UP Fair Core Team. The core team initially started program preparations at 7:30 a.m., even though the college only allowed the use of their parking space at 10 a.m.

The soundcheck initially stopped when the college protested the scheduling with the core team. But after soundchecks once again resumed at 8:30 a.m., the college administration finally barred the use of their parking space, announced in a statement on their Facebook page.

The earlier start of soundcheck was due to the need of accommodating the artists who performed at Quests and was admittedly not coordinated properly with the college, UP Fair Overall Head Ciro Quiapos explained to the Collegian.

In addition, some students with examinations at the college were unanticipatedly prohibited by the outsourced security officers from parking at the grounds as early as 2 p.m., despite the agreed time being at 7:30 p.m.

The other two buildings used for parking, the Student Union Building and the School of Economics, allowed the early closing of their grounds while CBA asked for a later time due to some of the classes ending at 7 p.m., which have caused the confusion, Quiapos said.

Human feces were also found at the parking grounds after the first night, which added to the college’s decision.

Two days after the last UP Fair night, the core committee also released a statement, apologizing for the lapses in their communication with UP JFA and administrators, which caused the program delay during Quests. They explained, however, that the technical incident was out of their control and unexpected.

Moreover, REV, UP Fair’s last leg, also experienced a delay of three hours due to sudden rainfall, starting at 7 p.m. instead of the scheduled start of 4 p.m.

Misalignment with Artists

The preceding night, Kalye Tunes, the night for the urban poor, was not without problems either, as attendees noticed that advocacy banners were rolled up during the performances of some of the artists.

Asintada, which manages rappers and hip-hop artists Gloc-9, Flow G, HELLMERRY, Omar Baliw, and Smugglaz, who all performed at the Kalye Tunes, requested that organizers roll up the stage banner with the statement “Marcos Singilin, Duterte Panagutin” during their performances, a floor manager from nighthandler EMC² fraternity told the Collegian.

As of press time, the Collegian has not received a response from Asintada regarding the matter.

The UP Fair Core Team had no knowledge of the agreement between the management and nighthandler, but had asserted to retain the banner, said Quiapos.

None of the officers of Kalye Tunes have given an elaboration to the Collegian since Wednesday’s event.

Moving forward, Quiapos suggested including the advocacy banners in the contract agreement between the artists and the organizers.

“Mahalaga na may officer from UP Fair team at nighthandler team rin na direktang nakikipagusap sa management upang sa simula palang ay maipaintindi na ang pagtugtog sa UP Fair ay hindi pagtugtog lang at higit ito ay pagboses sa mga protesta at kampanyang bitbit natin,” Quiapos said.

This year’s UP Fair was postponed to April, two months after the university’s founding anniversary in February, when it was traditionally held. Usually composed of five nights, the week-long event was reduced to four nights because no applicants applied as a nighthandler for the supposed night for education. ●

EDITOR'S NOTE: The article was updated to better explain the reason for Itchyworms not playing in the event.