On Friday, Kenyon celebrated its annual Summer Sendoff featuring sunny weather, lively music, free food and good vibes all around.

Although many students took the opportunity to begin celebrating as soon as classes ended, the festival officially started at 5 p.m. when the first student band, Blueberry Jam Collective, took the stage. The three bands set to play, Blueberry Jam Collective, Victor and Redford, were selected via student voting at this semester’s Battle of the Bands.

“I felt just completely electric. I mean, I think that it’s something I never would’ve seen for myself. I’m definitely a person who struggles with stage fright, which I think a lot of musicians can relate to. And it’s cool that I can even call myself a musician now,” percussionist Margot Manning ’28 said in an interview with the Collegian. “I think it was really wonderful having a supportive network of other musicians and student artists backing me up, and it was a clear sense of community that so many other musicians showed up to my set.”

The event continued with two more student bands, Victor and Redford, who each played covers along with their own original music. 

One particularly popular aspect of Sendoff was the plethora of free food available, including fried pickles, french fries, popsicles and various options from a taco truck, such as burritos, bowls and tacos. 

“I have to say that I tried every single food option. I tried the fried pickles, I tried the fries and I tried the donut holes, and honestly, all three were extremely delicious, especially the fried pickles, which I didn’t expect to like,” Ginny Peterson ’28 said in an interview with the Collegian. “The people who worked at the food trucks were very nice, and the lines weren’t too long, so it was literally perfect.” 

Social Board, which plans the event each year, also chose to add new activities to the 2026 celebration. For example, there was a large metal carnival slide that students and children of all ages could ride while sitting on a potato sack. There was also a stand offering customizable street signs and another featuring inflatable Whac-A-Mole. For the most part, these offerings accumulated on the lawns of Samuel Mather and Ascension Halls, adjacent to Middle Path. Further down in the South Quad, a parallel party — a barbecue hosted by student organization Men of Color — drew a steady crowd of students throughout the afternoon.

In another deviation from past years, Social Board decided to hand out T-shirts the day before the event rather than during. This year’s free shirts were distributed during Common Hour on the path outside of Peirce Hall, as well as that evening in Peirce during Late Night Bites.

The evening’s finale was the long-awaited performance by the NYC-based pop band Laundry Day, which drew mixed reactions from the student body. “I thought Laundry Day was okay. I think it only targeted a certain audience on this campus. It is hard to sing along when you know none of the songs,” attendee Holly Byun ’28 said. “The highlight was when they played ‘Party in the U.S.A.!’”

Dominic Simpson ’27, another attendee, shared a similar opinion of the band. “The food and vibes for Sendoff are always good, and were exceptional this year, regardless of the questionable performance from Laundry Day,” he wrote in a message to the Collegian.Members of Social Board had the opportunity to meet the band before it headed on stage. “We all got the chance to take photos with them, and they were extremely friendly, funny, enthusiastic and excited to be at Kenyon. The band members wanted to talk to all of us and learn about Sendoff and Kenyon,” Social Board President Mallory Hobson ’27 wrote in an email to the Collegian. “Social Board works so hard throughout the year to put on the entirety of Sendoff for the Kenyon student body, and it is so rewarding to see it come to life.”