Chirp Fest here to stay

Chris Cammack and Darius Norwood, seniors at Ball State University, work together to make their dreams a reality. While studying business and public relations they both still found time to become young driven businessmen.

They created a music festival called Chirp Fest, named after Ball State. Together they made advertisements, got sponsors, had streets shut down, and in September Chirp Fest was the event to be at on campus.

Darius came to Chris with the idea, but Chris was already on the same page.

“We both had the idea, we basically just took our two ideas and put them together,” Chris said.

It took a lot of hard work and dedication to make the musical festival happen. They were turned down multiple times by the county to get the streets blocked off. Along with the marketing, photography, and hiring performances, Chris and Darius had the stress of doing everything on their own. Using their connections and money to make Chirp Fest come to life.

They both plan to continue the business they have started because of the success of the first Chirp Fest. They want to build the name of Chirp Fest by taking the music festival to different campuses in Indiana. This spring they plan to have Chirp Fest at Grand Prix on Purdue University’s campus. They want to keep the name Chirp Fest everywhere they take the festival, but also recognize where they are having the festival by calling it for example “Chirp Fest Presents…Grand Prix.”

They also plan to make Chirp Fest an annual event at Ball State University.

“The idea behind Chirp Fest is to start it at Ball State in the spring, tour around college campuses all year and then end it at Ball State, so the grand finale will always end up at Ball State,” Chris said.

They do plan to have another Chirp Fest in April 2016 at Ball State.

To them Chirp Fest was a way to bring Ball State together and give the students something to remember, but it is slowly becoming much more than that. Darius wants Chirp Fest to be his umbrella for a company he is trying to launch after graduation. Darius also talked about how people have been contacting him daily wanting to be a part of Chirp Fest in some way. He has no doubt that Chirp Fest will help him in the future with his portfolio and career in Public Relations.

When Chris and Darius were asked who they would thank for the opportunity they both agreed in thanking God, friends, and family.

“The first I want to thank is God…there is no way that we should be running on 3 to 4 hours of sleep a night, going to class, and having time to go to the gym and stay

healthy…the three people I want to thank is God friends and family for sure,” Darius said.

“Chirp Fest has changed me tremendously and the last person I want to thank is our sponsors for taking a chance with us,” Chris said.

They plan to continue to surprise people in the Midwest with music festivals that you would normally see on the west and east coasts. They want to bring something new to the Midwest and be the first to do it.

Both of these humble young men are excited to see where this business takes them, and Ball State is definitely excited to see what their future holds.

#music #lifestyle #entertainment