EIU Media Relations

Community Members Invited to Lawn of Old Main for Live Music, Food

Eastern Illinois University welcomes the community to the lawn of Old Main to celebrate the summer season with live music, food, drinks and door prizes during the Old Main Lawn Party.

The evening will begin at 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, June 5 on the lawn in front of the Old Main with community members throughout Coles County encouraged to attend the free event.

“Eastern Illinois University appreciates all that our community members do every day to make our students feel at home in Charleston,” said Robert Martin, vice president for university advancement. “The party celebrates our continued collaboration between EIU and the community, but also provides an opportunity for everyone to sit back and relax with some good live music, food and drinks.”

“The Freezelands, a local husband-wife duo from the band Jac Freeze, will sing acoustically from a wide range of music from country to rock,” Martin said. The arraignment will include music from old country favorites to new such as Patsy Cline and Adele and some rock favorites too.

Throughout the evening, EIU head football coach, Kim Dameron and his staff will there for the community to meet.

“We thought the lawn party would be a perfect time for our new head football coach to update us on the exciting, upcoming season,” Martin said. “We know our community bleeds blue, and we wanted to provide them the opportunity to visit with all our football coaches up close.”

The lawn party is co-hosted by Eastern Illinois University and the Charleston Chamber of Commerce.

“Old Main is the symbol of our university, and by hosting a celebration on the grounds of this historic building, we are physically opening our doors to Charleston,” Martin said. “The live music, the natural beauty of the grounds and the opportunity to mix and mingle with the coaches, faculty, staff and friends is EIU’s way of saying thank you Charleston for being real Panther fans.”

Parking for the lawn party is available at the X lot to the west of Old Main. The EIU University Police Department will not ticket after 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 5 in the X lot.