As a junior at Northwestern University who’s currently working remotely in Atlanta, last week – in what I would consider the greatest use of my PTO possible – I headed back to Evanston, IL, to help produce the nation’s largest student-run music festival: Dillo Day.

The festival, which took place May 18, was the culmination of nearly a year of planning. This was the 52^nd occurrence of the festival, which traces its roots to two undergrads from Texas who named the event after their home state animal, the armadillo. With a budget of more than $350,000 from the university, Dillo Day attracts over 12,000 annual attendees.

My Mayfest friends and I (center) wear our exclusive branded merch in front of Dillo Day’s entrance – another creative masterpiece of our promotions committee.

My main role as part of Dillo Day is helping book the festival’s lineup. This year’s performers included rapper Swae Lee, British indie singer Bakar, Ghanaian-American afrobeats artist Amaarae, rapper Lupe Fiasco, Scottish EDM duo LF System and pop star Maude Latour. With Dillo hailed as an early predictor for performers’ stardom, past lineups include Kendrick Lamar, the Black Keys, N.E.R.D., Regina Spektor, Steve Aoki, MGMT and Daniel Caesar.

The festival’s overarching organization, called “Mayfest Productions” in recognition of the festival’s occurrence in May, has upwards of 100 people involved. There are 10 committees: booking, community (internal bonding), corporate (festival partnerships), finance, operations, production, programming, technology, general board (introductory group for underclassmen) and promotions.

Led by two co-heads, promotions is the largest committee, with 16 members; it’s responsible for designing and distributing Dillo Day’s promotional materials. Alongside running the festival’s social media accounts and interacting with the press, “promo” selects the Dillo Day theme, which they base all merchandise and advertising materials around.

Dillo’s Brand Book, which was released internally mid-January, featured a concept description, color and typography standards, logos and design elements. The theme, “Camp Dillo,” was officially released at the end of the month in a grid-style graphic (composed of six different posts) on the @dillo_day Instagram. Festival attendees dress in theme, with many opting for swimwear, camouflage or even Scouts gear to fit their interpretation of “camp.”

2024 was the first time that Mayfest sold a Dillo Day official merchandise line, the proceeds of which benefited the festival. The eight-piece “Dillo 2024 Camp Gear” line included graphic tees, bikinis, crewnecks, hoodies and hats. The merchandise was unveiled via Instagram in a themed animation, where pieces are strung along a clothesline at a campground.

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Merch showcased the creativity of promo student designers, including the “Underground Armadillo” design, where an armadillo performs under a spotlight in a dark forest; other items showed the armadillo basking in the sun or enjoying a cold beverage under an umbrella. One shirt leaned into college humor, with “Man I Love Fishing” (MILF) plastered across the front.

Dillo Day’s classic curled-up armadillo logo (surrounded by a sun to fit this year’s theme) was also featured on bucket and dad hats, each selling for $24.99. Prices for the collection ranged from $20.99 for the “MILF” tee to $36.99 for the “Underground Armadillo” hoodie. The collection’s top seller was the light-color “Camp Dillo” tee, followed by the dark-color tee, the “Underground Armadillo” hoodie and the “MILF” tee.

The “Man I Love Fishing” tee was a very popular item.

While festival attendees experienced all that “Camp Dillo” had to offer (performances, brand activations, food trucks, etc.), Mayfest members worked throughout the festival to ensure a smooth experience for all stakeholders. This meant transporting artists (I got to drive my favorite DJs: LF SYSTEM), scanning wristbands, roaming the festival grounds to ensure safety, producing performances and filling countless other roles.

For our hard work, we were rewarded with exclusive merch that we wore during the festival. Mayfest members received a tan baseball cap with a green Dillo logo (the armadillo and sun), a mint-blue tee with a sunglass-clad armadillo on the back, and a forest green hoodie with a “Camp Dillo” landscape on the front and sunny yellow armadillo on the back. This organization-specific merchandise, which is not available for purchase, is a mile-marker of each festival that’s worn proudly by members year-round.

The booking committee and I (back row, third from the right) post-festival. As the self-proclaimed “Book Cooks,” we’re mimicking whisking up another lineup as great as this year’s. (Photo courtesy of Joss Broward)

With Dillo Day largely hailed as students’ favorite day of the year, there’s a lot of pressure on Mayfest members to produce the most fulfilling experience possible. And when it comes to developing the professional image necessary to attract big-name (at least in the eyes of our festival-goers) acts like Swae Lee and Bakar, our internal and external branded merchandise plays a major role in putting Dillo Day in the promotional realm of big-name festivals like Coachella and Lollapalooza.

And best believe, as my time in Mayfest and at Northwestern nears its end, I will definitely be keeping my Dillo merch for the long-term, so I can one day hand it down to my kids, who will “ooh” and “ahh” about the coolest college festival ever.