‘Not Being Nerds’: Harvard Students Dance to Tinashe at Yardfest

Hundreds of students flooded to Tercentenary Theatre Sunday afternoon for a performance by R&B singer-songwriter and dancer Tinashe at Yardfest, the College’s annual outdoor spring concert hosted by the Harvard College Events Board.

Despite a muddy Harvard Yard, students turned out in droves to relieve midterm stress by dancing to Tinashe. Many praised her high production-value performance, which featured four backup dancers and her top hits “All My Friends” and “Needs.”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m getting fucked up tonight,” Tinashe said at one point during her set. “How many of y’all are getting fucked up tonight?”

The crowd cheered.

David E. Lewis ’24-25 said seeing her live was a highlight of the day.

“It was amazing, it was wonderful. Tinashe can dance, sing, do everything,” Lewis said. “The backup dancers went insane.”

Freshman Emmanuel T. Edwards ’27 also said he enjoyed Tinashe’s performance, calling it a “really incredible, unbelievable experience.”

“I was just sitting over by Mem. Church just listening to music with some friends. I don’t know, I felt at peace, I felt at rest,” Edwards said.

Prior to the concert, many students in high spirits attended block parties organized by House Committees in one of the four upperclassmen House neighborhoods, which featured attractions such as bouncy houses and a mechanical shark.

Though Yardfest has been held on a Sunday since 2019 and falls during a busy time of the semester, students said the event provided a chance to see Harvard’s student body in full force.

“It was just great running into so many old friends, acquaintances,” Lewis said. “Harvard can be very individualized, so it’s great really seeing the whole community come out, have fun, even in the cold.”

Fez S. Zafar ’24 — the first marshal for the class of 2024 — said the energy and excitement among his classmates was palpable.

“Every year, you have three core Harvard holidays. You have Harvard-Yale, you have Housing Day, and you have Yardfest,” Zafar. “I think that since Yardfest is the last one, the hype steadily builds up throughout the year.”

“The reason why it builds up so much hype is because it brings large swaths of campus together,” Zafar added. “I think that’s the beauty of Yardfest — you look around and you see every genre of Harvard student represented.”

The concert was opened by Swedish electronic music duo NOTD and performances from student bands Boom Boom Sauce and Beacon Street, who won the chance to perform at CEB’s annual “battle of the bands” competition known as Battle for Yardfest.

Swedish musical production duo NOTD perform to a crowd of students in Tercentenary Theatre. By Daniel Morales Rosales

Ethan J. Hooper ’25 said the two bands’ performances reminded him of how talented the undergraduate student body is.

“This is my first time seeing the student bands, and they were phenomenal. It’s always interesting to see how many talented people are at this school. You kind of forget a little bit when you’re just locked into classes,” Hooper said.

As students filed into Harvard Yard, Chris B. Ruiz ’26 said he would encourage his peers to attend the concert regardless of worries about schoolwork.

“I know we have psets, midterms — leave it out the door. Come on over; it’ll be a great time,” Ruiz said.

Hooper also said he hopes students make an effort to attend events like Yardfest.

“We all have work to do, it’s just — what am I going to remember about my college experience? It’ll be the big events, it’ll be the Yardfest, it’ll be the Harvard-Yale,” Hooper said.

Though Winifred Ofori-Manu ’27 was not familiar with Tinashe’s music, she said the performance exceeded her expectations and that the programming throughout the day was “very fun.”

“I think it’s one of the very few times where Harvard students are not being nerds,” Ofori-Manu said.

—Staff writer Azusa M. Lippit can be reached at azusa.lippit@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @azusalippit or on Threads @azusalippit.

—Staff writer Cam N. Srivastava can be reached at cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @camsrivastava.