The Student Programming Association will host the annual Crawfish Day today, bringing students and faculty together for an afternoon of music, activities and, of course, crawfish. The event, which is slated for noon to 5 p.m. in the west parking lot of John L. Guidry Stadium, has been a tradition since the 1980s and is an event students and faculty anticipate every year, Maggie Jones, SPA president, said.

SPA is ordering the crawfish from Heads and Tails, the same company as last year. The organization spent $16,000-part of the $50,000 budget set aside for this year’s event-on 5,700 pounds of crawfish.

For attendees who do not wish to eat crawfish, there will be other food items to choose from, including hamburgers, nachos and popcorn, Jones said.

New to this year’s event will be a variety of music performers, including rap group Supa Starz, rock band Nothing More and zydeco artist Rotimi. Supa Starz will perform at 12:15 p.m., Nothing More at 1 p.m. and Rotimi at 2 p.m.

Mr. and Ms. Nicholls will also be announced at 3 p.m.

“Everyone is looking forward to Crawfish Day,” Jones said.

There will be an array of events, including carnival rides, a swing, a rock wall, a slide and other inflatables, Jones said. There will also be taste testings, street-sign making and an obstacle course set up by the US Army. The Nicholls Education Associate of Teachers will also host “Are you smarter than a fifth grader” as part of the festivities.

Matthew Jewell, business sophomore from Luling who attends Crawfish Day each year, said the new activities and entertainment will make this year’s event better than the last.

“SPA has put more effort into it this year,” Jewell said. “It seems like they thought more about what the students would want.”

Marissa Crawford, biology pre-med sophomore from New Orleans, said she is looking forward to crawfish day because she was unable to attend it last year because of classes.

“I am really looking forward to crawfish day this year,” Crawford said. “I’ve been hearing about it all year, and I am so anxious. I am eager to participate in all the activities, and most of all, I want to know who Mr. and Ms. Nicholls will be.”

Spenser Langthorn, marketing junior from Houston, Texas, said he attended the event last year and plans to go again.

“I like to go,” Langthorn said, “because crawfish day is a chance to get free crawfish while also getting to interact with other students I would not have seen otherwise.”

Renee Bergeron, managing editor, and Katelyn Thibodeaux, sports editor, contributed to this article.