I do believe there is music going on, and I have seen a few people dancing to that music the last few years in the park. Therefore in a way it can't go "back" to its tradition.
But yes in a way, the Herald got it wrong. The official "Springfest," per se, is actually about music sponsored by the University Programming Council in which they pay bands to come to UND to perform for UND students for (generally) free....the Violent Femmes in the lawn by Twamley, Sugar Ray in the Ralph, or Guster in the Alerus Center.