SA's 2026 Fall Fest delayed

The undergraduate Student Association will postpone its annual Fall Fest to the spring semester, citing “logistical issues” arising from leadership changes and scheduling conflicts. 

Fest will now take place in April, SA Treasurer Laron Fomby told The Spectrum Monday. The concert will not clash with SA’s other widescale events including International Fiesta — scheduled around late February to early March — and Bullsapalooza, held after Fest.

Fomby said Fest was to be held Sept. 12 but they could not secure performances amidst former-President Jack Koscinski’s resignation during the summer — when the event is typically planned out — and subsequent election to fill the vacancy. 

Conflicts with UB Athletics in booking Broadview Arena — an indoor location SA depends on in the event of poor weather such as last year’s — further delayed the concert, Fomby said. This issue had previously resulted in SA’s 2023 Fall Fest cancellation.

An annual UB tradition, the concert draws hundreds of undergraduates and is one of SA’s most expensive events. The 2024 Spring Fest and 2025 Fall Fest both saw expenses upwards of $500,000, leading 2024-25 President Samin Bhuya to end SA’s traditional Fall and Spring Fest series. 

Last year’s Fall Fest cost SA approximately $231,000 according to its general ledger. 

The concerts’ funds are drawn from SA’s approximately $4.5 million budget, solely funded by the $109 mandatory activity fee. Starting this spring, undergraduates will pay an increased fee of $115 and according to Fomby, SA’s budget is to be raised to $4.8 million. 

Fomby says approximately $525,000 will be reserved for this year’s Fest, and that the previous high expenses were because SA’s entertainment department spent more than what was allotted.

“I’m going to be really strict about it,” Fomby said. “They have to stay within that budget. There’s no exception.”

This year’s Fest will also take a different turn. Instead of a main headliner and supporting acts, smaller artists across several genres — such as pop, hip-hop and indie — will be recruited. 

“We want to bring back the element of the event being a ‘music festival’ similar to that of Lollapalooza on a smaller scale,” Fomby told The Spectrum. “Not just one headliner that doesn’t engage with a large plurality of the student body.”

Mylien Lai contributed to the reporting of this article.

Aiden Dickerson is the senior news editor and can be reached at aiden.dickerson@ubspectrum.com.