More than 900 students, faculty, staff and visitors packed the Hill Student Center on Saturday, April 22 for food, drinks, swag and carnival-themed attractions as part of Springfest 2017, but the highlight of the night was the mini-concert by Billboard Top-10 recording artist Khalid.

“Hosting an up-and-coming artist has been a part of the Springfest vision since we launched the event in 2011, so Khalid was an awesome way to cap off the semester and bring that dream full circle," said Caleb Rotton, coordinator of Student Activities. “We ran into a little issue with rain, but even after moving 95 percent of the activities inside the Hill Student Center, almost 1,000 attendees still participated. Springfest is the kind of organic event that students just look forward to. So we're happy we were able to deliver this year."

Sponsored by the University Programs Board through Student Involvement & Leadership, this annual event is a UAB tradition that aims to celebrate the end of the Spring semester. In addition to food, drinks, live DJ and complementary Springfest T-shirts (which were accessible on the HSC 1st floor), attendees lined the HSC 3rd floor halls for games, prizes, inflatables, a photo booth, caricatures and more.

Khalid took the HSC Ballroom stage at 7:30 p.m. and performed numerous songs, including “Let’s Go,” “Saved” and his hit single “Location.” Hailing from El Paso, Texas, the 19-year-old singer and songwriter has been featured on several “Artists you need to know” lists, including Billboard, Yahoo, Buzzfeed and Rolling Stone. Khalid’s debut album, American Teen, also premiered at No. 9 on the Billboard album charts earlier this year.

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