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Despite rainy weather, hundreds of people attended SpringFest 2012 April 21 on the Chittenden/Buckham/Wills central green. 

Soulive headlined the event with support from DJ Dillion Francis. Battle of the Bands winner Sloe Loris and SpringFest Remix Contest winner Andrew “DJ Whole-Z” Holzberger opened the show. 

Neon-clad and rain-dampened attendees filed through the festival’s gates at 1:30 p.m. to see Sloe Loris kick off the afternoon. 

Guitarist and junior Mitch Manacek said the group’s original song “Sexy Panda” and their cover of Outkast’s “Roses” were crowd favorites. 

“I had a great time,” Manacek said. “Everyone was very accommodating and it was awesome to play on a real stage.”

Senior Ellen Winston said Sloe Loris’ performance was her favorite. 

“I had a super good time,” Winston said. “The rain was sort of a bummer, but everyone made the best of it and the music was still great – especially Sloe Loris; those guys are awesome.”

Following Sloe Loris, Whole-Z performed a 20-minute live set that included Bassnectar’s “Vava Voom,” Martin Solveig’s “The Night Out” and the theme song from the ’90s movie “Space Jam,” which is available for download on Whole-Z’s Facebook and SoundCloud pages. 

The DJ said the rain worried him, but he was pleasantly surprised with the turnout. 

“I was definitely worried with the weather involved, so I was impressed with all the people who came out to see me play,” Whole-Z said. “It was a great time overall.”

Dillon Francis began immediately after Whole-Z left the stage. By this time, the smaller group of about 100 people who came to see Sloe Loris and Whole-Z had grown to fill a large portion of the gated area. 

As the weather worsened, the crowd thinned; a large portion of the festivalgoers left after Francis’ performance, forgoing headliner Soulive. 

Appearing to be unaffected by the drop in attendance, Soulive closed out the afternoon with high energy. They played a number of Beatles songs, including a 10-minute cover of Eleanor Rigby, which seemed to be a crowd favorite.

The UVM Concert Bureau’s Facebook page declared SpringFest 2012 a huge success despite the weather. Sophomore Rachel Bennett agreed.

“It was too bad that it was raining, but in true UVM style a lot of people still came out to dance in the rain and mud,” Bennett said. “I had a blast at SpringFest.”