…not what I expected.
As one of UC Davis’s largest — and probably most well-known — events finally went back in person after two years, it became quite the buzz on campus. I remember all of my professors asking if we would be attending, as most of the students had never been to a Picnic Day at all. The only ones who would have experienced the event in person would be the current seniors when they were freshmen.
This made me think of the vast amount of time that has passed since we’ve been living through the pandemic. I always become a bit dismayed when I look back on how much we had to change in how we work and play amidst the chaos. Thus, I didn’t want to miss this school event and began to look forward to Picnic Day.
I was immediately overwhelmed upon viewing the schedule of events: parades, science shows, lab visits, animal interactions, and much more. My roommates and I ended up creating a schedule of our own since we wanted to ensure that we could get around to every event that we were interested in. Yet on the actual day of the event, things didn’t go as planned.
I had forgotten just how large Davis could be, despite it being a small town. Moreover, I failed to recall that Davis is a town that is home to families, not only students. Although we arrived on campus early, there were already lines of people at almost every event and by the afternoon the lines grew even longer. We ended up waiting for almost two hours to do a single event, with us later giving up on waiting in favor of walking around.
Although Picnic Day was jam-packed with people, I am glad that I went. Next time, there are several things that I would do differently.
1. Parking is available, for the most part
For those who drive to Picnic Day, the parking isn’t too difficult to find if you arrive before a certain time. My roommates and I arrived early in the morning, thinking that parking would already be taken up, but there was enough space until the early afternoon which was when more people began to arrive.
2. Walk Around Instead of Planning Everything
In my experience, it was more fun to walk around than to wait in the long lines. With so many activities occurring with music playing, it was enjoyable to observe from afar and explore the campus. At the most, make a list of your “must go-to” events so that you know where and when to go to wait in the line, but don’t be strict on yourself to stick to your schedule.
3. The animal events have long lines
Although this is counteractive to the previous point, the animal events are the ones that I would recommend making plans for. The lines only got longer as the day went on, thus choosing your “must go-to” animal events will ensure that you won’t have to wait for hours for an event you would like to go to. If you want to see the Doxy Derby event in person, you should leave early in the morning to wait at the event location as the lines ended up encircling the entire Union Credit Center and the Activities and Recreation Center by the afternoon!
4. Check out the club booths
The quad was full of different clubs selling snacks, hosting mini-games, and sharing works they had created over the past quarters. This was one of my favorite parts of Picnic Day because there was open space to walk around (while looking at cute dogs playing on the grass!).
5. Find the event photo spots
Stationed around campus were several funny photo boards related to the activity occurring in that location. They are painted with holes in them to place your face into, and my roommates and I had a laugh taking photos.
Despite it feeling as if I was at Disneyland instead of UC Davis, Picnic Day was a fun event for me to get outside and spend time with my friends while learning more about one of UC Davis’s traditions. As this Picnic Day marked the end of the 108th, I look forward to going to the 109th!