Loyola’s Fools of April music festival is set to undergo its biggest installment this year, replete with a new date, more stages and a new name: Fools Fest Loyola Family Fair.

Since its inception in 2014, the event has been curated to reflect the diversity of Loyola’s campus, artists and culture. For this year, organizers within the music industry studies program are promising an all-out community event with a few surprises in store.

Claire McLaughlin, director of marketing, said the event will have higher production values and community outreach than ever before.

“We’re looking to get the entire college involved. Students, faculty and staff are all going to play a role, as are Sodexo workers, WWF workers and local non-profits. For whatever reason, we’ve never had a truly inclusive event on campus in the past, so we’re looking to fill that gap,” McLaughlin said.

Braden Young, administrative coordinator, explained that all of the collegiate departments have been enlisted to contribute their talents to the fair. She noted increasing the scope to the rest of campus and beyond is a key focus for this year’s Fools Fest.

“All of the colleges are coming together. Loyola’s One Room will be screening the film department students’ movies, the science department will be making liquid nitrogen ice cream, the college of music will feature a Jazz Quartet playing in the fish bowl, it’s all really exciting,” Young said.

Roger Siver, production manager, explained that the change of name and date was intended to revamp the Fools Fest brand as well as strategically place it on a weekend free from the New Orleans spring festival onslaught.

“This new weekend in March gives us space to breathe before French Quarter Fest, Tulane’s Crawfest and two weekends of Jazz Fest all in April. Even if it moves up our schedule, it’s a weekend we’re all really excited for,” Siver said.

Siver and his team also teased a surprise artist that will make an appearance for this year’s Fools Fest, an ensemble featuring several Loyola alumni set to headline on the main stage.

“Although this artist is not a current student musician or anything, I can’t wait to see how everyone will react when those posters come out. It’s been really difficult to keep it secret so far,” Siver said.