Five area bands duked it out and played their best material, while listeners entertained themselves and won prizes at Lollapalaza Wednesday night.

“Lollapalaza was thought up to so we can try and be a bigger part of the NIU community,” said Paige Everly, director of marketing for University Plaza. We have never done anything like this before, so we hope to put it on every year, Everly added.

The event was sponsored by University Plaza and Starbusters Bar and Grill, 930 Pappas Drive. It was held behind University Plaza.

The main feature of the event, the battle of the bands, included five bands from the DeKalb area. They were Night and Day, Trepidation, Chasing U, Herbal Jazz Cigarettes and Dysception.

The winner of Lollapalaza’s battle of the bands was Dysception, who received a $500 prize.

The organizers of Lollapalaza gave each band some money so they could go out and promote themselves in the area and spread the word.

Lollapalaza also featured alternate means of entertainment besides the battle of the bands, including a dunk tank, human bowling, sumo wrestling and rock climbing. Starbusters Bar and Grill supplied a beer tent.

Food was provided by vendors that included Tom & Jerry’s, Starbusters and University Plaza.

Prizes such as concert tickets, a television and a DVD player were given away to people that purchased a raffle ticket,with proceeds going to a local charity.

“The turnout was pretty good; it was fun and there was a lot of cool stuff here,” said Matt Webb, guitarist for Chasing U. He said he liked the fact that there were a lot of prizes.