College of Agriculture
2025 Spring Fest: A celebration of family fun, flora and fauna
Purdue to offer activities commemorating the spirit of spring
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Every year, alumni, students, families and friends gather to celebrate Purdue University College of Agriculture’s Spring Fest. The annual event is filled with interactive activities for all ages, including contributions from other university colleges, departments and organizations.
The celebration is home to the beloved Bug Bowl — complete with the Cockroach Colosseum — and plant sales hosted by the Purdue Horticulture Society and Purdue Student Farm. This year’s festival will take place 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. EDT on Saturday, April 12, offering attendees a chance to experience the joys of spring on campus.
“Purdue’s College of Agriculture is thrilled to host Spring Fest. This event brings the community together through fun, hands-on experiences, showcasing Purdue’s impact on education and innovation within agriculture and beyond,” said Amy Winger, event coordinator.
Pocket guides containing a map, complete list of activities, schedule of events and food options will be available at Site 1, the information tent, located at the corner of Mitch Daniels Boulevard and Marsteller Street.
The 2025 Spring Fest, a free and inclusive event open to all, will feature 37 sites across the College of Agriculture buildings and grounds, the College of Veterinary Medicine, and Memorial Mall. Each site will host a wide range of activities that explore science, technology, engineering and the arts, including:
- Boiler Barnyard — A live petting zoo hosted by the Department of Animal Sciences
- Taste honey and visit the Bug Zoo presented by the Department of Entomology
- Make edible popping boba with the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
- Plant Palooza — Learn how to pot plants with the Department of Agricultural Sciences Education and Communication
- The Boilermaker Black and Gold editions hot sauces sale hosted by the Department of Food Science, in collaboration with the Purdue Student Farm
- The Purdue Veterinary Medicine Open House
Not only can you make your own plant pressings at Site 10, but you can also tour the Purdue University Herbaria, which hosts 235,000 specimens of plants, fungi and more.
Spring Fest also provides an opportunity for attendees to give back to the Greater Lafayette community. At the John Martinson Honors College’s site, visitors can participate in a blanket-tying event for YWCA Greater Lafayette and a hands-on community service project for Food Finders Food Bank.
“Spring Fest could be considered Purdue’s open house for the surrounding community. We’ve been putting this on long enough that we’re seeing multiple generations come back, passing the traditions and memories down,” Winger said. “It’s so fun to hear the stories about people who came as kids and are now bringing their children to the event.”
Free event parking is available in the Marsteller Street parking lot, Discovery Park Lot and the Wood Street Parking Garage. Paid parking is available at the Harrison Street Parking Garage.
For additional details, including activities, demonstrations and reading lists, please visit the official Spring Fest website.
About Purdue Agriculture
Purdue University’s College of Agriculture is one of the world’s leading colleges of agricultural, food, life and natural resource sciences. The college is committed to preparing students to make a difference in whatever careers they pursue; stretching the frontiers of science to discover solutions to some of our most pressing global, regional and local challenges; and, through Purdue Extension and other engagement programs, educating the people of Indiana, the nation and the world to improve their lives and livelihoods. To learn more about Purdue Agriculture, visit this site.
About Purdue University
Purdue University is a public research university leading with excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities in the United States, Purdue discovers, disseminates and deploys knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 107,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, locations and modalities, including more than 58,000 at our main campus in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 14 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its comprehensive urban expansion, the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.
Media contact: Devyn Ashlea Raver, draver@purdue.edu
Sources: Amy Winger, afararre@purdue.edu
Agricultural Communications: Maureen Manier, mmanier@purdue.edu, 765-494-8415
