As artists entered the main stage at Coachella in Indio, California, 5C students were celebrating music festivals of their own: Pomona College’s Nochella and Pitzer College’s Kohoutek.
Both long-standing festivals provide 5C students free on-campus alternatives to the music festivals that have come to dominate pop music culture every spring.
Nochella, which is hosted annually by the student-run Pomona College Events Committee, took place on Saturday, April 12, at Sontag Greek Theater. This year’s festival was headlined by singer-songwriter Dreamer Isioma.
Besides Dreamer Isioma, Nochella also featured performances by student artists and DJs.
Attendees at this year’s Nochella also enjoyed cotton candy, a photo booth, tattoos, henna and more activities stationed around the lawn. If you’ve seen anyone carrying a custom airbrushed tote bag around campus in the last week, chances are it came from Nochella.
Elle Desmarteau SC ’26 went to Nochella mainly to hear Dreamer Isioma’s performance.
“I was really excited to see the artist,” Desmarteau said. “I really like their new album, and they didn’t play songs from their new album … but otherwise, they were a great performer.”
Dreamer Isioma released this new album, StarX Lover, on April 4 — just a few days before their Nochella performance. They have been making music since 2018, but became more well-known after their song “Sensitive” went viral on TikTok in 2020.
Since then, they have released four albums (including StarX Lover) and performed nationwide. Their musical and artistic style contains electronic, rock and Afrobeats influences, which lends well to an intimate concert setting like Nochella.
At the beginning of their performance, Dreamer Isioma asked everyone sitting in the amphitheater to stand closer to the stage, forming a pit area. Though some attendees didn’t know any lyrics, most people danced along, even shouting to the artist between songs as they talked about the inspirations behind their new album.
One week after Nochella, Pitzer College’s Kohoutek offered a similar experience as a night festival on April 19.
Besides bands and DJ sets, this year’s Kohoutek also featured art vendors, senior art students’ thesis exhibits and food provided by the Grove House.
Bright colorful lights and upbeat music filled the Clocktower Lawn as students sprawled across the grass, enjoying performances or walking around chatting with art vendors and friends.
Kohoutek featured live performers including student band ZZ and the Tops, as well as Ed Axel, Untitled (Halo), Mali Velasquez, Pretty Boy Aaron, Oblé Reed and DJ Kita. Each artist gave a unique performance across genres and styles, from Ed Axel’s upbeat hip-hop and rap to Pretty Boy Aaron’s groovy bedroom soul, ending with DJ Kita’s flashy rendering of dance music.
When asked which performance caught their eyes the most, art vendors Ishika Kolluru PZ ’26 and Luke Guyer PZ ’26 noted Ed Axel’s performance.
“I like how the bands have been changing … [my] favorite was the second one,” Kolluru said of Axel. “I like the type of music [he] performed.”
“For the last four years I’ve been watching [Kohoutek] get back on its feet as a tradition. I love seeing people have fun. You know, that’s the point — my love for my community.”
Vendors at Kohoutek sold a range of items, including crochet crafts, ceramics and Kohoutek merch, alongside two senior thesis exhibits. One, a creature-like “trash monster” titled “Tender,” invited festival goers to think differently about waste and caring for garbage.
The sculpture’s artist, Cameron Macdonald PZ ’25, described their project as a process and product of collaborative imagination.
“[‘Tender’] is all about physical manifestation of community in different ways,” Macdonald said. “I specifically wanted to look at trash and unwanted and discarded and broken things as part of, like, college as a pressure cooker of becoming.”
Macdonald also expressed their love for the community at Kohoutek.
“For the last four years I’ve been watching [Kohoutek] get back on its feet as a tradition,” they said. “I love seeing people have fun. You know, that’s the point — my love for my community.”
For some, Kohoutek was a fun first-time experience, and for others, it meant returning to a long-held college tradition. Both Nochella and Kohoutek provided students with an accessible on-campus opportunity to enjoy live music and art.
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