For the first time, Columbia’s Manifest Arts Festival will be held on the Saturday of graduation weekend.
In an email sent to the campus community on Monday, Oct. 27, the college announced that Manifest will take place on Saturday, May 16, with the theme “Kaleidoscope,” chosen to reflect the color and creative energy of Columbia’s community.
The 25th anniversary festival will also double as a homecoming celebration for alumni, featuring special events that begin Friday, May 15, and continue through the weekend.
President and CEO Shantay Bolton pushed for the change to make the festival more accessible to families, alumni and the public while tying it more closely to graduation, which is now condensed to a single ceremony on Sunday instead of spread out over two days.
“With commencement now only on Sunday, President Bolton saw a unique opportunity to allow more graduating students’ families and friends, alumni, prospective students and their families, and the general public to take in this amazing festival, because to see it is to fall in love with Columbia,” Lambrini Lukidis, associate vice president of strategic communications and external relations, said in an email.
Students told the Chronicle they were happy about the change.
“I feel like it does open more room for networking,” said senior graphic design major Lorraine Castaneda. “More people can come compared to a previous Manifest so that way they can walk around and get to know Columbia students and the work they produce.”
Manifest, which started in 2002, is Columbia’s annual showcase of works from graduating seniors and master students and includes performances, exhibitions, club activities and an outdoor festival. It has been held on the Friday before commencement weekend since 2005, with the exception of 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic, when activities took place on Zoom for the entire week of the last semester.
Although the festival has been scaled back in recent years because of the college’s budget constraints, administrators say the 2026 celebration will mark a new chapter.
Former president and CEO Kwang-Wu Kim previously announced that events like Manifest, Convocation and commencement would need to be reduced as part of efforts to close a $38 million deficit. The college later trimmed last year’s festival footprint, relocating student organization booths indoors to the Student Center.
While the deficit fell to about $24 million, it has since risen again to an estimated $40 million amid continued enrollment declines this last fiscal year, the Chronicle previously reported.
Despite these financial pressures, Columbia leaders say they intend to “reimagine” Manifest for its 25th anniversary by expanding community access while keeping operations efficient and student-centered.
“While Manifest has turned more inward in recent years, the college’s vision is to make Manifest a cultural attraction that is open to all, in the same way that the public visits many mainstay festivals throughout the spring and summer months each year,” Lukidis said.
During previous years, the event has been open to all campus members with a Columbia ID, as well as their friends and families via a wristband that could be reserved online ahead of time or picked up day-of. Though much more accessible than Columbia’s usual closed campus, that method of security still restricted many Chicago residents from attending spontaneously.
Although the same ID and wristband procedure will be in place this year for students and their guests, some events may be ticketed for the public. Lukidis said college leadership is already working with the safety and security team to ensure that Manifest remains a safe, student-centric event.
“We are still early in the planning, but we anticipate that for security reasons, not all buildings or not every part of every building – and thus not every activity may be open to the public,” Lukidis said.
She added that the college is also exploring the possibility of street closures, which has not been done in a few years, along with street vendors.
“We hope that over time, Manifest becomes a source of revenue that helps fund scholarship, mainly through third-party sponsorships of the festival,” Lukidis said.
Senior animation major Sabrina Bailey is directing her own thesis project movie. Bailey said she is already looking forward to screening the final project at Manifest in the spring.
“I can’t wait for all of us to show off what we did the entire year,” she said.
Bailey said that hosting the festival on a Saturday sounds like a good idea and will probably make it more accessible for family and friends to attend.
“It gives everybody more opportunities because I think everybody’s mostly free on a Saturday,” she said. “It just makes me more excited that it is more open.”
Adolfo Segovia, a senior animation major, is helping with Bailey’s thesis film. Segovia said they are excited to have work displayed this year despite never having attended Manifest.
“I’m looking forward to showing my professional work and just having it flourish,” Segovia said.
Segovia said that Saturday festivities sounded “cool,” and that overall this change was a good idea as students can “be proud and bring more people.”
“I think having it more public is better,” Segovia said. “The more eyes on your work, the better it is because the more opportunities it allows people. The whole reason we’re here is to find jobs in our respective careers.”
Copy edited by Brandon Anaya
Resumen en español
En un correo electrónico enviado por la universidad el lunes 26 de octubre, fue anunciado que el Festival de Artes de Manifest de Columbia se llevará a cabo el sábado 16 de mayo. Será la primera vez que el festival cae en el mismo fin de semana de la graduación, el domingo 17.
El tema del 25 aniversario del festival será “caleidoscopio”, representando el color y la energía creativa de la comunidad de Columbia, mientras han tenido que reinventar cómo se ve el festival para cerrar el déficit de $40 millones.
Resumen en español por Sofía Oyarzún
Copia editado por Brandon Anaya
