Students can choose between D.C., Maymont and campus this Pig Roast weekend

Students who are not interested in Pig Roast will have two school-sponsored options for off-campus adventures: a trip to the city of Richmond’s Maymont Park and another to the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C.

“Not a whole lot of other organizations on campus have something on that day because so many people go to Pig Roast,” Maggie Latimer, the cultural advisor hosting the Maymont trip, said.

The Maymont trip is organized through SpiderNights, a program run by cultural advisors that offers late-night events on Saturdays. 

The trip to the Cherry Blossom Festival, an annual springtime celebration in D.C., is run by Richmond's Transportation Services, which will provide a shuttle to and from the festival. Unlike the Maymont trip, which is free, anyone interested in going to the festival must pay $15 to ride the shuttle.

So far, 45 of the 55 available seats for the shuttle to Maymont trip have been filled. A waitlist might be used and any empty seats may be filled with students that do not attend Richmond. The shuttle to Washington, D.C., will hold up to 29 students.

“We have a wide variety of students, from freshmen to seniors, signed up to go to Maymont, who are all really excited to enjoy the spring weather at Maymont," Hira Siddiqui, head cultural advisor, said. "I think students, like international students or students studying abroad here, who don't have cars on campus are particularly excited for this opportunity to get off campus.”

Activities available to students at Maymont include a petting zoo, bird sanctuary, Japanese gardens and the Dooley Mansion, and students can choose to spend their time freely. In case of rain, the back-up location is the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. 

For students going on the trip to Washington, D.C., the main event is the Blossom Kite Festival, where students can observe competitions and demonstrations of kite flying as well as create and fly their own kites.

"I have nothing against [Pig Roast], it is just definitely not my scene,” sophomore Jacob Litt said. "I am also going to Maymont Park because I can escape my crazy school workload, even just for a few hours.”

SpiderNights hosted a similar event last year that served as an alternate activity to Pig Roast. This is the second year the CAs are hosting this event.

“It was really fun last year,” Adriana Barranco, a sophomore who is going again on Saturday. “It was a pretty big success.”

Contact news writer Kay Dervishi at kay.dervishi@richmond.edu