MBX, Link Crew organize, host first annual Costachella event

rosenberg — Senior Jonah Tavai writes a message to post on the Dream Wall while Manhattan Beach Unified School District board member Ellen Rosenberg helps other students.(Photo by Gabby Baker)

Karli Wallace

Staff Writer

Link Crew hosted Costa’s first-annual Costachella event on April 11 during AM Office Hours in the Mustang Mall.

The MBX Foundation sponsored Costachella, which was based on the annual Coachella music festival. Organizers originally scheduled Costachella to take place on March 21 during AM Office Hours, but cancelled it on March 20 due to rain.

“[MBX] wanted students to have a lot of liberty in planning an event, and said that they would just be helping out and sponsoring,” Link Leader and senior Dalia Feliciano said.

Costa’s Associated Student Body, Mustang Club and the Social Emotional Wellness committee also contributed to the event with organizing Costachella’s activities, such as Giant Jenga and the “Dream Walls”.

“The main idea of Costachella was for it to be an universal collaboration for all students and clubs at Costa,” MBX member and math teacher Kelly Cunningham said.

The concert featured student bands Good Vibe, whose members include freshman Slater Heidrich, Hermosa Valley eighth grader Austin Moseley and Manhattan Beach Middle School seventh graders Brooke Blake and Gavin McCree, as well as Business Casual, which includes senior Matthew Nelson, juniors Kira Levin, Jesse Eads and Henry Stanton, and sophomore Cole Fishman.

“Prior to the event, the Costachella commitee was trying to tackle the process of how to get bands to perform,” junior and Link Crew member Soliel Crow said. “Luckily, we had two student bands volunteer to perform during the event.”

Business Casual performed songs including “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley and Good Vibes performed “Dark Necessities” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. While bands performed, students created a chalk walk in the center of the quad, where they drew chalk artwork representing organizations such as Mustang Morning News, ASB and Model United Nations.

“I had a lot of fun playing for my friends and the school, ” Fishman said. “Link Crew and everyone else that was involved did an amazing job because the event ended up being really successful.”

The event also featured a “Dream Wall” where students responded on post-it notes to prompts about their experiences on campus and off campus. Prompts included questions such as “What is something you wish your parents knew about you?” or “When are you happiest at school?” According to Cunningham, MBX will use responses about student’s academic experiences to set goals for teaching skills at Costa.

“Costachella was about dedicating an event for the students of the school, along with the teachers and staff,” English teacher and Link Crew advisor Maddie Hutchinson said. “Within this event, we got to showcase a lot of diverse forms of talent that students at Costa have. Spreading positive vibes is what this event was about, and I think we achieved that goal.”

According to Feliciano, the number of students who attended Costachella exceeded Link Crew’s expectations. Link Crew hopes to host events similar to Costachella in the following years.

“We thought that Costachella was a success and that students loved it,” Link Crew member and junior Liam Barberi said. “To see that [Link Crew] pulled off an event like this is definitely already bringing some new inspiration to the table. Link Crew is already considering to do more events like Costachella soon. ”