The Slope Day Programming Board announced today that the indie-rock group COIN will be this year’s headliner, with EDM duo Snakehips and hip-hop duo Coco & Clair Clair also performing at the event.
Slope Day will be held on May 10, with this year marking the second in-person concert since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The SDPB released a survey in late October to solicit student opinions on artists and music genres they would like to see at Slope Day. Margot Baker ’25, SDPB’s artist selection and relations director, said the survey results largely informed the selection process.
“We chose the headliner based on the results of our artist survey, looking at the genres and performers that received the most student votes,” Baker wrote in a statement to The Sun. “According to the results, 65.2 percent of survey participants said their ideal genre for a headliner would be pop, and COIN ended up very high on the survey.”
Though the organization takes student preferences into consideration, other factors — including budgeting — place limitations on performers that SDPB can realistically hire.
“Slope Day is not funded by the University, but the University does support the event when it comes to staff and professional bandwidth,” wrote Triff H’Doubler ’23, co-executive director of SDPB, in a statement to The Sun. “We must allocate a small portion [less than 50 percent] of our budget from the Student Assembly to the artist budget and work with that. We only had less than $100,000 to work with for talent and even asked Cornell Concert Commission for extra funds to help with the talent portion.”
Baker added that most of the SDPB’s budget funds safety measures — such as first responders — in addition to security, perimeter fencing, portable restroom facilities, general logistics and other expenses.
Many Cornellians had been eagerly awaiting the line-up announcement. Following today’s reveal, some students expressed excitement for this year’s artists, despite their lack of familiarity with the performers.
“I feel excited because I don’t know who those people are — I’m very curious… who are those people? What do they do?” said Samuel Iradukunda ’26.
Ethan Abbate ’24 expressed a similar sentiment, noting his excitement to explore new music despite not being familiar with this year’s artists.
“I’m a huge advocate of becoming a bandwagon fan in anticipation of a concert, so I’m down to have a good time,” Abbate said.
Other Cornellians, however, expressed disappointment at this year’s line-up — a sentiment that many students, including Isabel Hou ’24, noted after last year’s artist announcement as well.
“How did [the SDPB] do so badly two years in a row?” Hou said.
Baker noted the negativity that the SDPB often faces from students, adding that she herself once held some of the misconceptions that many Cornellians have about the artist selection process before she joined the SDPB.
“The most challenging part of being a SDPB student leader and choosing performers is seeing the false information other students spread about the budget,” Baker wrote. “I had similar misconceptions before becoming part of the SDPB. Students have an opportunity to be part of the process and learn firsthand how the organization is run by becoming a SDPB member.”
In addition to the main concert on the slope, other Slope Day events will include Slope Fest, an event on Ho Plaza that will include free food, drinks, games and student performances, and Alternative Slope Day, through which students will be able to participate in a ropes course and other activities off campus. Cornell Health will also be hosting Slope BreakFEST, during which they will distribute free sandwiches, fruit and water in front of the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Though the artist line-up has been confirmed, SDPB is still working to prepare for this year’s event.
“I’ve been working closely with staff from different departments across campus, including the sustainability office and CUEMS, to better understand event day logistics and ensure things go as smoothly as possible,” wrote Riya Agarwal ’25, SDPB volunteer director, in a statement to The Sun. “We’ve spent a lot of time talking about previous events and looking at feedback to understand how we can simplify and better our volunteer process, including everything from recruitment to training to incentivization.”
Regardless of the artists performing, students like Merciel Tao ’26 expressed excitement for participating in this Cornell tradition.
“I’m so excited for my first Slope Day,” Tao said. “I’ve heard so many great things about this tradition, and it’s awesome that Cornell values its student community so much that they plan and host high-profile artists annually.”