Before the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books came to campus, the quads at the top and bottom of Janss Steps were covered in thick, dark green grass and were roped off to prevent students from walking on them.
The festivities now over, the lawns have been left littered and yellowed by the more than 100,000 attendees who came to the event.
Many steps have been taken to restore the lawn to its pristine state, said Jack Raab, director of UCLA Events.
During the event, for instance, protective covering was installed underneath the tents to prevent excessive wear on the grass, he said. The covering acted as a greenhouse, circulating air and moisture to keep the grass growing, even during the event.
But it will take about a week for the grass on the quads to be restored to their original shape, Raab said.
“Obviously with that amount of people (at the festival), there will be wear on the grass,” he said.
Joshua Osburn, a first-year biology and chemistry student, said he saw a lot of trash on the lawn outside of the library and also down the Janss Steps on Monday.
“With all the traffic, everything looked trampled,” he said.
Considering the normal amount of work that goes into maintaining the lawn, it was surprising to see the grass in the state it is in now, said Shasta Crawford, a third-year art history student who was in Powell Library on Sunday and witnessed the crowds at the festival.
“It’s something that strikes you because it has always been such a beautiful place,” she said.
In spite of the wear and tear, Crawford said she believes it was beneficial for UCLA to hold the festival, which emphasized the importance of reading and also provided a way for families all over Los Angeles to enjoy their weekend.
“There was trash, but (having the festival) was for a good cause,” she said.
The next large-scale event that will be held on the quads is commencement in June. From the time of the festival to commencement, no other large events will be held on the quad in order to facilitate the upkeep of the lawn, Raab said.
“We want the campus to look as pretty as possible (for commencement),” Raab said.