This Friday, March 17th, 2023, at 7 p.m., Jake Nevin Fieldhouse will host Villanova’s biggest event of the year. No, it’s not NOVAdance, Special Olympics or even 1842 Day – it is A Cappella Palooza.

Palooza is regarded as the Villanova a cappella community’s biggest performance of the year, where all eight a cappella groups perform a ten-minute song set, complete with themed wardrobing and choreography.

For the readers who have not already purchased a ticket (links found in every group’s instagram bio or found by scanning the QR code in the attached photo) and cleared their Friday night plans, the presidents of all eight groups, collectively known as the Directors of Villanova A Cappella (DVAC), wish to give reasons to come out to the event.

“Minor Problem most wants to showcase how close we are and that we know how to work hard while also having fun together, and I feel like our set shows how much we love each other and how much fun we have,” junior Skylar Musick, president of Minor Problem, said when asked about her group’s biggest focus going into the event.

Senior Alex Petrozzi, president of the Sirens, also commented.

“Our set is very experimental,” she said. “We’re technically doing five songs. There is a mash-up and one song that blends into another, so it’s a little scary, but it has been a lot of fun and I think we have really embraced the challenge.”

“Palooza is one of those moments where we sit down to put together cohesive sets with [choreography] to put on a show for the audience that this is who we are,” junior Warren Cho, president of Vocal Minority, said. “We enjoy making great music and putting on a performance for students just like us.”

“I would say that, for the non-ICCA (International Competition of Collegiate A Cappella) competition groups, this is the closest we get to that point,” president of the Spires, senior Jack Palermo, said. “It really calls all groups to put their best foot forward, which is all the more reason for people to come out.”

“As graduation approaches, I am reminded that this is my last Palooza, so my personal highlight will be the opportunity to share the stage with my talented friends for one of the last times,” graduate student and president of Nothing But Treble, Savanna Wesselius, said.

“I personally like cheering on the other groups,” sophomore and president of the Haveners, Jane Huston, said. “Getting to perform is so much fun, but this is the only time all eight groups go at once, so I really like getting to see everyone else’s sets. Getting to appreciate their hard work is really special.”

“You definitely have a friend who is in this,” senior Jess Cherubino, president of Measure Up, said. “The reason why we are all excited for Palooza is similar to why other people should be excited for it. It is real life Pitch Perfect. When do you get the opportunity to see something like that?”

“Something the Supernovas always stress about this event is that we are one of the few schools that has a cappella groups without music majors,” sophomore Bridget Duffy, president of the Supernovas, said. “We do not have an official music or theater program or anything of the sort [at Villanova]. The fact that we are all able to do this for pure enjoyment, on our own time and completely separate from our studies is really special and I have not come across that anywhere else.”

This event is truly one of the highlights of the year. The process of song selection, arranging, rehearsing and choreographing is a long one, filled with lots of work, after-hours rehearsing and tense moments. But, at the end of the day, these groups all do this because they enjoy music, performing and being together.

So much love and work go into the sets for the purpose of entertaining an audience (and each other), and Palooza is the culminating moment where Villanova students, faculty, staff and community members can enjoy amazing performances.

Villanova students should attend Palooza to support their friends, roommates, significant others, classmates and students at the event, who have probably not been able to shut up about this event all semester. Or because they love music, and they want to show up to a good Friday night performance with friends. Or, if nothing else, as Cho said, “How funny is it if you go and watch somebody who is in your class and really quiet, go up on stage, sing and shake their butt like there is no tomorrow?”