Fun times, great prizes, loud music and free In-N-Out burgers will be supplied for all CSUN students attending the fourth annual Welcome All Matadors Festival (WAM) on Tuesday, Aug. 25 at the Residential Halls Sports Lawn from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Brian Nakamura, 23, event assistant for the University Student Union’s Major Events Department, says he is privileged to be co-hosting WAM Festival, as he has been busy planning this event and getting prepared for Tuesday night’s activities with help from two other campus organizations, the Resident Housing Association (RHA) and Associated Students’ Student Productions and Campus Entertainment (SPACE).

“WAM Festival is a fun and relaxing social event where any of the new students will be able to come out and meet their fellow peers,” said Nakamura. “Our surveys from previous events tell us that students come out to meet new people, make friends, participate in the activities, possibly win some cool prizes, and of course eat the free food.”

“I’ve never been to WAM but it sounds like it would be really fun, and I love In-N-Out,” said Alexandria Alvarado, 21, a child and adolescent development major.

The free In-N-Out burgers and prize giveaways help draw in masses of students, but they are only part of the WAM Festival experience.  A live DJ will be on location near the dorms, turning the tunes throughout the night to create a comfortable atmosphere for all Matador students to socialize, enjoy and even dance.

This event gives each Matador the chance to see and participate in CSUN school spirit from the first week of school. Nakamura predicts the expected number of students in attendance to be anywhere from 300 to 500 people.

The event takes place on the Residential Halls Sports Lawn, next to the basketball and volleyball courts due to the large amount of space required for the event, explains Nakamura, and it will be turned into a carnival-like landscape, capturing the mood for the festival.

“The dorms were chosen as the location for this event because we felt as a department that we would be able to accommodate the most amount of new students by placing the event on their front door step,” said Nakamura.

The event is not just for new students, but it is especially beneficial for incoming freshman and students new to campus to take part in the festivities.

“It just makes sense to pull together resources and campus entities, not only in these tough times but always,” said Audrey Younna, 22, executive director of SPACE.  “I love the idea of campus-wide collaboration, and when all of us come together, CSUN students really benefit with a variety of programs and really get excited about being part of this community.”

All students who attend the festival have the opportunity to win a variety of great prizes such as, T-shirts, tote bags, pens and highlighters, Nakamura said.  He also said that large prizes including Best Buy gift cards and two Universal Studios Tickets are going to be up for grabs.

“I would definitely bring my friends to WAM, it sounds like it would be a good time,” said Alvarado.