Events & Activities

Looking for the best art and entertainment on campus? Don’t want to pay full price? In this section you will find the biggest and best yearly events around campus and ways to get exclusive discounts – just for students!

Events & Activities Contact

Robin Wander
robin.wander@stanford.edu
University Communications

Annual Events

Want to transform your college experience into the Stanford experience you’ve been dreaming about? Attend (or better yet - help plan) one of these annual events – many of which have been campus traditions for decades. Make your mark on the arts!

Fall

Winter

  • Black Love - Valentine’s Day R&B concert
  • Dance Marathon - 24-hour benefit dance festival and social
  • EnCounter Culture - Winter dance showcase
  • Holi - Hindu festival
  • Lohri - Sikh and Hindu festival and social
  • Lunar New Year - Chinese New Year celebration
  • Rhythms - Winter dance showcase
  • Viennese Ball - Ballroom dance
  • Winter Performing Arts Festival - Showcases and workshops

Spring

  • Blackfest - Black community headliner concert and festival
  • Culture Nights - Multiple cultural festivals
  • Frost Music Festival - Stanford headliner concert
  • Hipnotized - Spring dance showcase
  • Lu'au - Pacific Islander cultural festival
  • Night Market - Taiwanese cultural market and festival
  • Powwow - Native American cultural festival
  • Spring Arts Fair - Visual arts and creative writing showcase
  • Spring Musical - Full-scale musical theater production

Discounts/Memberships/Benefits

This section includes the major arts organizations on campus. They plan hundreds of events every year – many of them just for students. Explore what they have to offer and see the special memberships and benefits – exclusively for you!

Cantor Arts Center

The Cantor Arts Center's diverse collections span continents, cultures, and 5,000 years of art history and include one of the largest presentations of Rodin bronzes outside Paris. Come see a wide range of changing exhibitions and take advantage of classes, social events, internships, and more. Explore, participate, and visit often.

Student Membership: Joint FREE membership with the Anderson Collection at Stanford.

Anderson Collection

Stanford University is home to the core of the Anderson Collection, an outstanding collection of modern and contemporary American art. The museum holds 121 works of art by 85 artists, as well as rotating exhibitions throughout the year. Monthly programming offers the opportunity to see films, hear music, attend artist talks, and experience something extraordinary.

Student Membership: Joint FREE membership with the Cantor Arts Center.

Stanford Live

Stanford Live presents a wide range of the finest performances from around the world fostering a vibrant learning community and providing distinctive experiences through the performing arts.  With its home at Bing Concert Hall, Stanford Live is simultaneously a public square, a sanctuary, and a lab, drawing on the breadth and depth of Stanford University to connect performance to the significant issues, ideas, and discoveries of our time.

Student Discounts: Students can purchase tickets for often as low as $15! All student tickets are discounted at least 50%.

Cardinal Nights

Cardinal Nights presents free and deeply discounted events and activities designed to create more options for alcohol-free socializing. These events often include off-campus entertainment including – free movie tickets and transportation and theater performances in San Francisco.

Department Events/Discounts

Think academic departments and programs are just for courses? Think again! These arts departments have a rotating schedule of activity from student gallery exhibitions to theatrical performances to major concerts. Explore the listings below to see the special discounts (often free) available to students.

DoM Performances

The Department of Music presents a diverse range of musical performances each year. Performances range from Taiko to the Stanford Symphonic Orchestra to student recitals. Students are provided with free tickets to these performances.

Visit the department website for more information.

TAPS Performances

The Department of Theater and Performance Studies offers discounted tickets for students to department productions. Past productions have included Evita!, Hamlet, and Dead Man's Cell Phone.

Visit the department website for more information.

A&AH Gallery Exhibitions

The Department of Art & Art History presents quarterly student, faculty and visiting artist exhibitions in the Stanford Art Gallery and in the new McMurtry Building. All exhibitions and opening receptions are free and open to all.

Visit the department website for more information

IDA Events

The Institute for Diversity in the Arts involves students in the study of culture, identity, and diversity through artistic expression. Throughout the year they host leading artists, dynamic workshops, and arts leadership programs.

Visit the website for more information