Silent Lights returns to UNM on Oct. 2 with a brand new location

Following the Rio Grande Rivalry football game, University Stadium is ready to switch from a screaming, sold-out student section to silence-well, a silent disco. The new location will have students "running back" to Silent Lights this year.

The event, put on every year by ASUNM Student Special Events (SSE), is UNM's take on a silent disco. It is free to all students with their Lobo I.D. card, and each student is allowed one guest (because, as we know, everyone's a Lobo).

Now in its 8th year, Silent Lights will be held on the University Stadium North Concourse on Thursday, Oct. 2, from 7 to 10 p.m. Free parking will be available in the South lot, as well as shuttles from Main Campus to the stadium. Parking and shuttle maps will be posted prior to the event. Before you arrive, be sure to review University Stadium's policies on clear bags, prohibited items, and metal detectors, which will be enforced during Silent Lights.

"This year's Silent Lights is going to be just as much of a blast as it was last year," said Karis Daskalos, the executive director of SSE, "We've upped our headphone count to get more students in, and also to have more of a crowd for the party."

There will be 2,250 pairs of headphones, six DJs, and three channels to switch between. But what is Silent Lights without the lights? In addition to the many vibrant stage lights, red, green and blue lights illuminate the headphones, indicating to your fellow Lobos which channel you are on so you can dance to the same beat.

With the new sporty setting, students will get to overlook the football field as they dance the night away. The first two hundred students to arrive even get their very own Silent Lights jersey, holographic stickers, a swag water bottle, and a clear bag that they can take to athletic events. All the free merchandise will be first-come, first-served while supplies last. Additionally, some of the athletics concession stands will be open during the event, along with other vendors, to help fuel the dance moves.

This event is the perfect way to have fun amidst midterms, which is why it is so special to students during the fall semester. This year, however, there was a bit of a roadblock. While Silent Lights is traditionally held in Smith Plaza, campus construction is currently restricting access to that area.

Daskalos was able to use this challenge as a vessel for collaboration. "It's going to be looking a little different through the lens of a student," said Daskalos, "but an even more fun opportunity to work with Athletics to be in the concourse at the UNM Football Stadium."

Silent Lights is sponsored by ASUNM Student Special Events, ASUNM Lobo Spirit, and University Communications and Marketing, with special support from UNM Athletics and Parking and Transportation.