Carnegie Mellon University
April 05, 2016

Media Advisory: CMU Celebrates Spring Carnival

Several Oakland-area Roads To Close; Please Note Traffic Alert Below

By Abby Simmons / 412-268-4290 / abbysimmons@cmu.edu

Buggy

Event: Carnegie Mellon University’s annual Spring Carnival is set for April 14 – 17. Many events are free and open to the public, and a full schedule is available at http://springcarnival.org. Follow the weekend on social media with #CMUcarnival. Highlights include:

Spring Carnival Booths
3 to 11 p.m. on Thursday, April 14
11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday, April 15, and Saturday, April 16
Note new location for this year: College of Fine Arts parking lot and lawn

The opening ceremony at 3 p.m., Thursday April 14, on the Midway will include remarks by Spring Carnival Committee Chair Patrick Koenig, Associate Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs Gina Casalegno, and performances by the CMU Pipe and Kiltie bands. More than 20 student organizations are building booths with a “Game Night” theme, including “Battleship,” “Pac-Man,” “Candy Land,” “Oregon Trail” and “Dungeons and Dragons.”

Sweepstakes Buggy Races
8 a.m. to noon on Friday, April 15, and Saturday, April 16
Held on Tech and Frew streets, and Schenley Drive

Buggies are aerodynamic pushcarts designed and built by student organizations. Each team includes five students who push the buggy in a relay-style race while a driver steers around the 4,400-foot course. Just an inch off the ground, buggies also roll freely reaching speeds of nearly 35 miles per hour. Student organizations cmuTV and WRCT 88.3-FM will broadcast the event on their websites.

Mobot Races
Noon, Friday, April 15
Outdoors, next to Wean Hall

The School of Computer Science challenges members of the CMU community to create and race small, autonomous vehicles (“MObile roBOTs”) along a slalom-style course.

“Fastball” Documentary Screening
8 p.m., Friday, April 15
Kresge Theatre, College of Fine Arts
$5 for adults, free for CMU students and children under 12. Advance online registration is required.

CMU physicist Gregg Franklin and psychologists Michael Tarr and Tim Verstynen are featured experts in this baseball documentary exploring the science of throwing and hitting the fastball. Narrated by Kevin Costner, the film features current baseball stars and 20 Hall of Famers. Nine-time Emmy Award-winning director Jonathan Hock and Pittsburgh Pirates Director of Performance Chris Johnson will join CMU faculty members for a talkback after the screening.

Traffic Alert: The City of Pittsburgh has granted permits to close several Oakland-area roads during CMU’s Spring Carnival and Sweepstakes buggy races. Forbes and Morewood avenues will be closed near the campus intermittently from 6 to 11 p.m. Friday, April 8, to allow students to transport their booths to the Spring Carnival Midway.

Margaret Morrison Street, Tech Street, Frew Street, Circuit Road and Schenley Drive (Panther Hollow and Schenley bridges included) will be closed from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., Friday, April 15, and Saturday, April 16. Both City of Pittsburgh Police and Carnegie Mellon Police will be present during the races to help monitor traffic. Roads will reopen by 1 p.m. If inclement weather causes the cancellation of the Friday and Saturday competitions, races will be held Sunday, April 17, during the same time frame.

Phipps Conservatory will remain open during normal hours. Due to road closures, visitors will need to park on the streets by Carnegie Library and the surrounding area. City of Pittsburgh Police stationed at barricades will give bus drivers instructions for passenger unloading.

Parking: On-campus parking will be limited for non-permit holders and campus visitors, April 11 – 15. Additional parking will be available for $5 (cash only) from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, April 15 at the Bob O’Connor Golf Course at Schenley Park, 5370 Schenley Drive, and a shuttle service will be provided to and from campus.

Free parking will be available in the East Campus Garage on a first-come, first-served basis on Saturday, April 16. More parking information is available on CMU’s Alumni Association website.