A cappella, brass and indie-rock will combine Thursday to create the Blugold Radio Music Festival, an event put on by the student-run radio program at UW-Eau Claire to promote awareness of their presence and get to know their audience.

Olivia McCarthy, senior, is the public relations manager and took charge of coordinating the event, which will feature student groups Forward Brass Band, Fifth Element and Granite Rose.

She said the music festival was a popular idea for a fundraising event with everyone on staff because music appeals to so many people, and hosting three different genre bands brings even more variety.

“People love going to different concerts on campus,” she said. “Not only are we going to draw three different crowds of people, we’re also going to be able to show them a little bit of everything that students here at Eau Claire produce for music.”

This is the second year Blugold Radio has put on a music festival at the end of the school year, and McCarthy said she thinks this event is a good fit because, in addition to arts and events, the radio program showcases a lot of music.

One of their assistant producers has a segment where he finds a different artist or band every week and does a segment featuring them, so she said the festival is kind of based off that.

It is forecasted to storm, which McCarthy said could go either way in terms of attendance. Her hope is that students view it as a fun, cheap way to spend a Thursday night.

“It’s getting down to the wire where everybody’s stressing and freaking out about everything,” she said. “It’s only $2 for students so it’s super affordable to go out … it’s a great opportunity for them to go out and have fun and see different types of music and hang out with their friends.”

Breane Lyga, senior and Station Manager for Blugold Radio, said she thinks the music festival is a way for staff members to see who their audience is and make face-to-face connections.

“Those who do tune in to our broadcast may not know our faces, but they know our voices,” she said. “Being able to be visible, literally, to them, while bringing a good concert with a variety of students hopefully allows students to know that we exist on campus.”

Lyga said she is most looking forward to the variety of students in attendance for the festival, and having the chance to get to know them.

“Behind a microphone in the studio you don’t know who exactly your audience is,” she said. “At events like this you can talk to someone and say ‘hey have you tuned in?’ or, if they haven’t tuned in, ‘hey, you should tune in.’”

The Blugold Radio Music Festival will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday in Schofield Auditorium.