For the first time in its 106 years, Picnic Day is going online. A virtual experience will allow guests to walk around the UC Davis campus and re-live some of their favorite Picnic Day highlights—bringing the experience home.
Picnic Day Chair Nicole Deacon met with The Dirt before the cancellation to talk about how much the annual event means to her, a graduating senior who spent all four of her undergrad years on its board. “It’s essentially what brought me to UC Davis, one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life.”
Deacon recalls stepping off the train one year, before coming to Davis, and seeing the parade pass by. “I just thought it was so cool that a school did that and knew I wanted to go to Davis and I knew I wanted to be involved in Picnic Day.”
No doubt others have been similarly inspired. Residents, alumni, current and future students alike share special memories of Picnic Day—a campus open-house that remains the university’s oldest tradition, and the largest student-run university event in the nation.
But while the pandemic means the on-campus events must be canceled this year, the board is keeping the spirit in tact and launching a virtual experience on Saturday, April 18, at picnicday.ucdavis.edu/virtual.
The experience will feature streams from past Picnic Day years and additional online activities throughout the day, including a Children’s Discovery Fair crafts section with step-by-step guides.
The board will also be fundraising for the UC Davis Medical Center: All of the proceeds from Picnic Day T-shirts will support the UCD Med Center Covid-19 Support Fund. The shirts will be available from April 17-20 HERE.
You can also visit https://giveday.ucdavis.edu/ to find a list of urgent needs to support on UC Davis Give Day.
See you there!