St. Fratty’s Day is almost here. What Cal Poly, SLO are doing to end street party, vandalism
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Cal Poly and the city of San Luis Obispo are taking a no-nonsense approach to St. Fratty’s Day this year in hopes of preventing the street party and campus damage that occurred last year.
St. Fratty’s Day — the illegal street party that takes over the residential streets near the university every March — drew a crowd of over 6,000 people last year.
The unsanctioned party resulted in rampant disruption and vandalism on and off campus.
While no major injuries were reported, partiers were seen standing on roofs and climbing on telephone poles. And serious injuries have been reported in previous years — like in 2015, when a roof collapsed under the weight of student revelers.
Last year on campus, dorms were damaged by students and their guests, to the point one had to be evacuated.
“We were fortunate that we didn’t have significant injuries last year,” Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong told The Tribune in an interview on Friday. “So, that’s why we’re re-doubling our efforts.”
What’s different this year?
Last year’s disruptive party left many community members pushing for change — and the city and university appear to be following through.
In January, the city of SLO moved to expand the usual safety enhancement zone — which previously ran on St. Fratty’s Day only — to include the weekend before and the days surrounding the event as well.
This year’s safety enhancement restrictions will run from March 7-10 and March 14-18.
Fines will be doubled for noise violations, unruly gatherings, open containers and public urination during the safety enhancement period. Fines start at $700 and cap out at $1,000.
If a student is found in violation of the law, they will be issued a citation on the spot without warning, SLO Mayor Erica Stewart told The Tribune.
The law enforcement presence will be dramatically increased — and officers be out earlier, reporting not only from SLO and the university, but also from other nearby agencies. Officers will be making arrests for violations like driving under the influence and public intoxication.
Compared to previous years, Stewart said, the city’s 2025 St. Fratty’s enforcement will be “much more intense.”
“The quantity of people was not safe,” Stewart said of last year’s party. “The property damage on and off campus was not good, and so we are making it very clear: We don’t want to see that again.”
Stewart encouraged community members to call the police immediately if they see students start to gather.
“The sooner we know, the sooner we can do something,” she said.
Music festival to be hosted on campus
The university is also drastically changing its approach to St. Fratty’s Day.
This year, Cal Poly will host a music festival on campus from 4 to 9 a.m. to hopefully steer students out of the streets. The March 15 event was planned in partnership with student leaders — including Greek Life.
The university announced Wednesday that EDM artists Zhu and Galantis would perform at the concert. A beer garden will be available on campus for those 21 and older.
And the event appears to have captured at least some students’ interest — the 5,000 available tickets were snatched up within three minutes Wednesday afternoon.
The university will also offer a standby line for those who were not able to get tickets. It will begin letting in people from the line at 6 a.m., depending on how much space is available based on the number of ticketholders who actually show up.
Armstrong encouraged students who live in the neighborhoods to “make a beeline” for the campus event that morning.
“Get out of the neighborhood as soon as you can, and don’t walk in the street,” he said.
The university also is implementing a strict no-guest policy. University police and added security will be monitoring campus, and student IDs will be checked at all dorm entrances, Armstrong said.
Fines will be doubled for any vandalism to residence halls, added university spokesperson Matt Lazier.
Armstrong said that if the university finds out about visitors involved in illegal activity or damage to the dorms, they will face consequences.
“We will send evidence and record of their bad behavior back to their university,” he said. “We’ve done that in the past, and we will continue, whether it’s a CSU, a UC or a private university — whether, frankly, it’s in this state — we will let their respective dean of students know.”
Both the city and the university agreed that their ultimate goals are to made sure students and community members are safe — but ultimately, they want the St. Fratty’s block party tradition to end.
“We’ve got to get to the point where we don’t have students partying in the street,” Armstrong said.
This story was originally published March 6, 2025 at 10:35 AM.
