Start planning now – Veishea 2007 is just around the corner, and the official calendar of events has just been released.

This year Veishea week is April 16 to April 22. This year also marks the sesquicentennial celebration of Iowa State as a university.

“Veishea is kind of a vehicle to kick off the celebration of the 150th anniversary,” said Christina Dvorak, Veishea general co-chair and senior in advertising.

Dvorak said the size of some events has doubled this year because of the sesquicentennial celebration.

Veishea Village is going to have a large presence at Veishea this year. Veishea Village is the organization of open house displays across campus that are constructed by various student organizations.

“There will be 80 specially for the 150th celebration,” said Alison Neumann, Veishea public relations co-chairwoman and senior in journalism and mass communication. Neumann said there will be around 200 displays total around campus.

The Veishea Village celebration has grown in the last years and looks as if it might continue to expand.

“I would love to see it continue into future years,” Dvorak said.

Several intramural sports events and video game competitions have been added to the tournament schedule for 2007.

“There’s a few new tournaments that I think are going to be pretty exciting this year – ‘Dance Dance Revolution’ and ‘Guitar Hero [II],'” Dvorak said.

Registration for the tournaments will be available shortly after Spring Break, Dvorak said.

Dvorak expressed her appreciation of the free entertainment events at Veishea.

“I think that’s a big thing,” she said. “The Stars Over Veishea performance will be really great this year. There’s events for all ages.”

Stars Over Veishea is an annual collaboration between the Veishea committee and ISU Theatre. This year, the performance will be the Iowa musical “The Music Man.”

The full schedule of events from the Veishea entertainment committee will be released some time after Spring Break. The release will include information on registration for Veishea Says I’m Funny and Cyclone Idol. The free comedian and master of ceremonies for Cyclone Idol will also be announced. Last year, the comedian was Dave Attell and the master of ceremonies for Cyclone Idol was American Idol contestant William Hung.

“We’re really excited about the quality of performers we have coming,” said Nathan Katzer, Veishea entertainment co-chairman and senior in public service and administration in agriculture.

For the current calendar of events for Veishea 2007, go to www.veishea.iastate.edu/schedule.