Three Sacramento State students are attempting to win the Monster Energy Up & Up College Festival Series challenge, which would bring electronic dance music artist Gryffin to campus for a concert if enough tickets are sold.

Fourteen colleges are in the running to win the contest, according to its website. In order to win, a school must submit the most ticket orders between March 7 and March 9.

The three schools with highest amount of tickets sold wins a concert that would be held in April or May.

As the “student won, student run” tagline on the official website suggests, the contest requires students to request that their campus be a part of the contest, as well as help promote the event.

Mikey Alsey, Brandon Bagley, and Matt DeVore are the Sac State student organizers.

Alsey, a communications and public relations major, said that the team formed and began promoting for the event through social media in mid-February.

“It takes a lot of effort to gather attention and continue promoting but it is worth it in the end,” Alsey said. “Being on stage and seeing the (electronic dance) concert at its peak seems unreal and I would love to experience that.”

Alsey worked with a friend to create a promotional video to encourage Sac State and the Sacramento electronic dance music community to help win the competition.

Both DeVore and Bagley have been working to promote the contest by posting in the Facebook event page and by circulating promotional tweets.

For some students, the possibilities of winning a contest and bringing electronic dance artists like Gryffin is an exciting thought.

Carson Willms, a member of Sacramento-based electronic dance music group Joyzu, said that he plans on ordering a ticket.

Willms said that his interest in supporting the campaign comes from Sacramento’s need for “more electronic music.”

“Gryffin is a top-tier act and his music and live shows are absolutely amazing,” Willms said.

San Jose State University student Bobby Martin is a student representative as well as an event management lead who helps coordinate and oversee the event planning process.

Martin helped promote the Up & Up Festival at his own school, which won in 2017.

“If Sac State were to win, we (would) basically help them produce the event,” Martin said. “We do most of the busy-work while they get to experience what it’s like to do this. The winners will host the show, not us.”

Both the presale tickets and regular tickets are not limited to Sac State students only. Anyone can purchase tickets and attend the concert, according to Martin.

Tickets are $22 each during the pre-sale period, but Up & Up offers the first 100 pre-sale tickets free to winning schools if buyers enter a special code announced on Instagram prior to the contest.

Credit cards used to purchase pre-sale tickets will not be charged until the winning schools have been determined, according to the festival’s website.