For one night only, the Foote Green becomes ‘Canes Carnival

Sophomores Nate Smith and Akshay Advaney ride the “Ballistic Swing” at the Hurricane Productions ‘Canes Carnival on the Foote Green on April 29, 2022. Photo credit: Jared Lennon

‘Canes Carnival is back. Hurricane Productions’ (HP) largest event of the year presents students with a line-up overflowing with games and giveaways to celebrate the end of the spring semester.

“It’s free and it’s fun,” Montero said. “It’s an opportunity to hang out with your friends or meet new friends!”

On April 28 at 6 p.m., HP will take its most loved tradition and transform the Foote Green into a carnival complete with a wide variety of food options, live music, rides, slides and more!

HP recently announced R&B singer-songwriter Kiana Ledé as the spring concert headliner. Kiana Ledé has featured and performed with top artists including Ari Lennox, Khalid, Lucky Daye and Kehlani. She is best known for her mixes of early R&B with pop, hip-hop and soul.

“I am beyond excited for our ‘Canes Carnival headliner Kiana Ledé,” senior community and applied psychological studies major Teresa Vazquez said. “When I first heard we were getting a female headliner, I was ecstatic. For that headliner to be an R&B queen is even better.”

When selecting a headliner for the event, the HP concerts committee prioritized bringing a solo female artist to campus. The University of Miami hasn’t seen this since 2010 when the homecoming artist was R&B legend Lauryn Hill.

Embed from Getty Images

The HP concerts committee planned on bringing an artist that reflected the requests of the student population.

“We recently took polls at our tabling events regarding the genres that they would like to hear from and R&B was one of the top categories,” senior health sciences major and HP Concerts chair Grace Altidor said. “HP Concerts chose Kiana Ledé because while being an amazing artist, she also represents the opportunity to highlight the diverse and eclectic interests of our campus that aren’t always prevalently represented.”

Cotton Candy Cloud Nine, the theme of the concert, compliments the overall theme of the carnival, candy. Students will enjoy a euphoric atmosphere with their friends for some of the spring semester’s last memories.

“Students should expect to have a great time and to discover new music, or even a genre that might soon become their favorite,” Altidor said.

UM students, ranging from longtime fans to casual listeners of Ledé, expressed their support and excitement for the headliner.

“Kiana Ledé is one of the many underrated artists in the R&B industry and it’ll be really nice to see if she gets more exposure from the ‘Canes Carnival concert,” junior psychology major Shelsa Menard said. “My favorite song by her is called ‘Irresponsible,’ so I’m hoping she plays that at the concert.”

For more information, follow @hp_miami on Instagram.