Nochella, the annual music festival hosted by Pomona College’s Events Committee (PEC), took place Saturday, April 12, from 4 to 10 p.m. at the Sontag Greek Theater. The event, which was open to all 5C students, brought together a diverse group of artists, performers, vendors and music lovers.
Nochella has been a Pomona tradition for over a decade, featuring six hours of live music performed by student artists. The festival also showcases a guest artist — this year, it was Dreamer Isioma, who performed an hour-long set toward the end of the event.
Dreamer Isioma is an R&B and hip hop artist from Chicago with nearly 1 million monthly listeners and 146 million streams on their hit song “Sensitive,” which was released in 2020.
“The guest artist is different every year, and it is really exciting because I think that’s one of the main things students like to see,” ASPC Commissioner of Campus Events Linsey Wong PO ’27, who organized Nochella, said.
Aside from listening to the musical performers, attendees had access to free tattoos, henna and food.
This year, Wong said that the committee brought in two new vendors who offered custom airbrush hats and permanent jewelry; both turned out to be very popular among students. Wong also highlighted student performances.
“The 5C community has a really awesome student musician community, and it’s great they performed to large audiences,” Wong said.
The Pomona Events Committee released the festival’s lineup in an Instagram post on April 11, broadcasting the schedule of the day. Besides Dreamer Isioma, headlining this year’s Nochella were Molly & Mylo, DJ Vick, LovePluto, Iotties, Jeans, Hannah & Ben and DJ Eman.
Molly Chakery PO ’28 and Mylo Schneider PO ’28 were the first artists to perform together on Saturday at 4 p.m. and were listed as Molly & Mylo on the lineup. In addition to performing, Chakery and Schneider said they enjoyed the other music at the event.
“Nochella was a big celebration of different music while also checking out different vendor booths,” Schneider said.
Echoing Schneider, Chakery said it was a lot of fun to perform and that it was great that so many students are participating in the Claremont music scene.
According to Wong, many people were involved in organizing Nochella, and the festival had been in the works since January.
“It’s great seeing all of PEC’s hard work come to fruition with the long lines for booths and seeing really excited students coming out with their friends,” she said.
In previous years, Pomona has invited well-known musical artists such as Mac DeMarco in 2013, TV Girl in 2015 and Isaiah Rashad in 2016.
“All of the events that PEC throws are to encourage community and provide lots of fun free activities for our fellow friends and students,” Wong said.
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