Attendees with foam lightsticks handed out by SLICE. (Photo by Emma Harry)
September 13, 2025 marked another exciting year of music and dance on Colorado State University Pueblo’s campus — or did it? The campus led event ran by Student Leadership Involvement Career and Engagement (SLICE) is an annual event held behind the General Classroom Building in the Hasan Outdoor Amphitheater for students, staff, and the community to be able to see a range of local and big name artists including names like Van Halen, Kanye West, Waka Floca Flame and more in past years. This year introduced Rich the Kid as the headlining artists, opened by local acts such as DJ’s Rick G and Big Steve, dance group Southpaq, and CSU Pueblo’s Ballet Folkloricio.
Lawn games, bull rides, food trucks and variety vendors are also a feature of PackFest. With ticket prices ranging from $20 for students to $50 for community, attendees had high expectations for the event with an attendance of 659. The weather had other plans.
Clear skies had started the night, but rain clouds had moved in around the ending of the last opening act’s performance. Emcees Shay Wilson and Tate Kennence had to announce a 30 minute delay due to the lightning, which was of concern with artists being underneath a metal overhang on stage. The Today reporters in attendance witnessed crowd protests, which included throwing strawberries that had been donated to the event onto the stage, Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Marie Humphrey had to inform students to take cover for impending weather.
The first floor of the General Classroom Building was opened to attendees to provide shelter, but many students opted to return to their dorms or cars in the nearby parking lot. With no confirmation that the event would go on, the atmosphere within the GCB became antsy with students disappointed in the outcome.
While the ticketing website for the event states explicitly in the description that “event is rain or shine, no refunds for inclement weather,” several students expressed their concerns with the shift in plans.
“I was very frustrated when there was a lightning delay and it was longer than I expected,” said DJ Collins, a CSU Pueblo student in attendance. “I feel like the event should have been moved inside instead… It wasted a lot of people’s time and money.”
Not long after the crowd had moved to various shelters, it was announced that the main act that many had shown up for, Rich the Kid, would not be performing due to the weather. An adaptation was made after the delay timeframe for Rich the Kid to meet and greet with students inside of the General Classroom Building. However, a majority of the crowd had already left or chosen other shelter, leaving them unaware of the announcement.
The meet and greet remained short, with the majority of students inside of the building being able to get a photograph taken with Rich the Kid. For those who had left, the opportunity was missed. Missing the main act didn’t seem like the only complaint surrounding the event though.
“Honestly, I found it to be pretty underwhelming,” student and attendee Cole Kottenstette said. ”You would think that since this was a one day event that there would be more planning involved. I understand the weather can be unpredictable… there needed to be a plan that in the event of an unexpected storm, it would be relocated to an indoor space in an organized and timely manner.”
Overall, it seems as if the first half of the event went off without a hitch, but left students displeased with the way that weather changes were handled by organizers.