The 111th edition of Picnic Day, one of the largest student-run events in the country, took place Saturday (April 12), with tens of thousands in attendance.

From animal events to coffee tastings, the campuswide event had something for everyone, including multiple live performances, exhibits and live demonstrations that brought all corners of campus to life and invited the public to see what happens every day at UC Davis.

One of the most popular exhibits was also one of the earliest. Before 9 a.m., attendees filled the lawn in front of the Plant and Environmental Sciences Building for the Strawberry Breeding Program’s annual strawberry plant giveaway, with over 1,000 strawberry plants distributed. Greenhouse staffers were also on hand to distribute over 5,000 tomato plants. Games, activities and other giveaways were also provided.

At the start of the Picnic Day parade along North Quad Avenue, Picnic Day Chair Mina Sarmah led opening remarks as the crowd filled the grandstands. The UC Davis marching band kicked off festivities with a cover of Chappell Roan’s hit song, “Pink Pony Club.” The parade winded through campus along the Quad and featured everyone from the Girl Scouts Golden Sunflower Service Unit to a collection of DeLorean cars from the Northern California DeLorean Motor Club and a mobile party of a float made by the Davis Bike Collective.

The parade was one of many Picnic Day favorites to return, along with some new additions, including the Picnic Day Pit Stop at Russell Field. Featuring an inflatable maze course and food options, the new site created a welcoming atmosphere to visitors entering campus from the north.

Special exhibits

Inside Academic Surge, the Sacramento-Davis subunit of the American Fisheries Society hosted an interactive open house consistently well-attended throughout Saturday’s event.

Bryson Zheng, a third-year wildlife, fish and conservation biology major, led a demonstration with several fish tanks.

“We're kind of showing people what fish you can see in Davis, and the native and endemic species we have in California,” Zheng said.

Featured fish included juvenile Chinook salmon, white sturgeon and Sacramento black fish. One tank was dedicated to fish found in nearby Putah Creek, further localizing the exhibition.

“The Chinook salmon and the sturgeon, they're not doing as well as they have been historically,” Zheng noted. “There's a lot of research that's going on to determine how we can put forth best practices to manage the populations.”

Meanwhile, outside Bainier Hall, the UC Davis chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, or AIChE, hosted a popular sorbet and slime-making station, a now 20-year tradition for the chapter. Davis alumni were eligible to receive sorbet made onsite with liquid nitrogen, while anyone could create their own slime. 

First-year chemical engineering majors Morris Jones, Sophia Jordana, Vivian Mai and T Humble detailed the science to Dateline.

“Liquid nitrogen freezes at approximately -320 degrees Fahrenheit,” Jones said. “We can actually pour it into a solution of juices that have a high concentration of sugar.”

As one person pours, another stirs.

“As you're stirring fast, you're forming tiny little ice crystals that are making the taste and feel of ice cream, when really, it's just juice that's freezing,” said Jordana, freshman representative for the UC Davis chapter of AIChE. She noted the power of the liquid nitrogen.

“If you get juice and you put it in the freezer, it's not going to make ice cream,” Jordana explained. “But because liquid nitrogen is freezing it as we're mixing it, and such a cool temperature, we're able to make sorbet.”

Mai described the chemistry of making the slime as an example of cross-linking, the chemical process of creating bonds between polymer chains.

Humble said the activity was an extension of their club’s mission.

“Our goal is to get more people interested in chemical engineering and bring more awareness to the major, and I think this is a great way,” Humble said. “It's the most fun part of chemical engineering; it looks really flashy.”

Campus pride

Picnic Day continued with a massive battle of the marching bands on the Mrak Hall lawn, featuring marching bands from UC San Diego, Cal Poly Pomona, UC Berkeley and Cal Poly Humboldt.

Elsewhere, the Year of the Eggheads pop-up shop sold limited-edition merchandise Friday night, including an egg painting decoration station with the Craft Center, and all-day Saturday. The pop-ups concluded the yearlong initiative celebrating the 30th anniversary of Robert Arneson’s iconic sculptures.

Need more Picnic Day? Take UC Davis Magazine’s Picnic Day quiz to learn more about this unique annual event.