Photo: Billy Collins

Thompson Rivers University tourism management students are inviting students and the public to attend their final assignment — a party where everyone’s asked to dance like their grades depend on it.

Third-year students have organized this year’s wrap party to close out the university’s three-day IDays event, which aims to celebrate TRU’s international community and cultural diversity.

Associate teaching professor of tourism management, Billy Collins, said students from his event management class have put together the closing party for the last five years.

“It’s all based around experiential learning and actually running events, so not just talking about it but actually doing it,” Collins said.

“It's real life, real time, real budget, real deliverables, which can be really complex, and so I think that experience alone is what makes it really different than your average classroom scenario.”

The students are co-producing the event with Bass Coast Electronic Music and Arts Festival.

While the party has previously been free to attend, tickets this year are going for $5 for students and $10 for members of the public.

“The students get to work with real industry partners and we're using their ticket platform, so all the money goes through them and then will be transferred to the university,” Collins said.

He said the party has seen upwards of 700 students attend over the past several years and he’s expecting a similar number of revellers this time around.

“It's also a party for the volunteers, and there's like 60 to 100 of them, so it's for them and their friends,” Collins said.

This year’s musical lineup includes DJs Stickybuds, Handsome Tiger and Percusshunkidd.

He said the event hasn’t seen a live band in years, as there are few band touring in March and DJs require less time to set up and changeover.

“But I really want to bring some live music to campus next year, so we'll be working towards that,” Collins said.

The celebration will be held on Friday, March 14, at 8:30 p.m. in the Old Gym on TRU’s campus. Tickets are available online.

The event is being supported by the TRU Students' Union, the university's Indigenous Education and Tourism Management departments and TRU World.

Collins’ students have also organized and hosted annual rail jam events during the fall semesters.