Partiers paint the town with Dayglow at UCF

More than 4,000 people clad in all white attire and neon glow sticks crowded the UCF Arena on April 14.

Dayglow, known as the world's largest paint party, chose the Arena as its 2011 Orlando venue. Dayglow partygoers flocked to the Arena to dance to electronic music and get blasted with paint cannons.

Julio Serrano, a business major, waited anxiously in the security check line to get into the event.

"I am just looking forward to having a great time; listening to some great DJs, some great music, and having a blast," Serrano said over the thumping trance music.

Dayglow has been described as a new-age rave. Every Dayglow features renowned DJs, artists and aerialist performers. Laidback Luke, a Dutch DJ who has created beats for performers such as David Guetta and Black Eyed Peas, was the headlining DJ for this event. New and upcoming DJ David Solano, who DJs most Dayglow events, was the other DJ for the evening.

The inside of the Arena was completely transformed for the event. The usual basketball court was taken over by a massive stage and vendors selling drinks and official Dayglow paraphernalia. Dancers who bore neon ensembles and baton twirlers mesmerized partygoers while finger artists impressed onlookers with making their finger lights dance in the faces of partygoers.

Although the Arena was divided into two sections, the floor for VIP admission and the seats for those with general admission, everyone had the same amount of excitement when ‘the blast' came around.

Aerial contortionists flew around the stage and Solano made the stage come alive as the countdown till the paint blasting began to wind down.

‘The blast' was around 11 p.m. Performers dressed in tribal outfits and on stilts blasted partygoers with cannons and guns filled with neon paint.

Meghan Weiss, a junior nursing major, was completely drenched in neon-green paint and loved every minute of it.

"This is my first time here and I completely love it. It is everything I expected it to be", Weiss said as she wiped paint dripping from her forehead.

The party continued as paint got all over partygoers, arena personnel, and security officers alike. The floor reached its maximum capacity before midnight even came around.

As strobe lights and fog flooded the dance floor, the Devil from Acapulco took the stage around 1 a.m. Painted partygoers danced with the Devil in the last performance of the night. The Devil boasted a large headdress with a skull on top with laser eyes. The Devil showered the crowd with a laser show while dancing to the beat.

Orlando was just one stop of the many cities Dayglow will visit on its spring 2011 Escape Reality Tour.. The tour features paint parties in more than 25 U.S. cities. However, Dayglow does expand its paint parties for music festivals in London as well as Cancun.

Mikey Stylez, the head of marketing for Orlando's Dayglow, predicts an excellent turnout for the 2012 Dayglow party.

"Next year," Stylez said, "we are taking over Memory Mall."