6,000 St. Fratty’s Day revelers turn out to dance the morning away at Cal Poly music festival
Despite a chaotic start, Cal Poly’s on-campus music festival was the place to be on St. Fratty’s Day, as 6,000 students turned out to dance the early morning away, safely and off the streets.
The “Morning on the Green” event, which started at 4 a.m. with student DJs and lasted until 9 a.m., was announced by the university as an alternative to partying in nearby neighborhoods — and students appeared to appreciate the option.
“This is way better,” third-year Cal Poly student Jameson Gorospe told The Tribune. “You can hear the music, the vibes are going, it’s free — it’s so much fun!”
Gorospe and her friend Haley Snowstrom were dancing on the barricade as Swedish EDM artist Galantis played a set that included his hits, “Runaway (U&I)“ and “Love On Me,” and remixes to other popular songs, like “I Love It” by Charli XCX.
Concessions at the festival included free breakfast sandwiches, burritos and orange juice. The university also had light-up swings, benches and teeter-totters, where students could take a break from dancing.
Though tickets to the free event were sold out within three minutes, the university allowed students waiting in a standby line to enter the festival at 6 a.m.
The event seemed to achieve its primary goal, which was to get students off the streets. Throughout the morning, the re-routing effort and a heavy policy presence prevented any illegal partying in the streets of off-campus neighborhoods.
Students rush entrance and knock down barricades at campus concert
While the overall event was a success, getting everyone into the venue was a bit unruly to start.
At about 5:45 a.m., both the ticket and standby lines quickly devolved into a chaotic crowd with students shoving their way through the entrance.
A mass of people appeared to swarm and break through security barriers to the main ticketed line and cut into the crowd. Security personnel worked to get the line back under control, but it continued to grow larger and several people expressed confusion at where the line to enter was.
Some people could also be seen bypassing security in the confusion and hopping security fences to get into the concert.
After the rush, one person could be seen limping, before she was escorted to a seat and attended by medics.
As a crowd began swarming the stage, the student DJ announced that he would pause his set and there was an announcement to not rush forward as staff worked to divert some of the flow of people to more open areas.
“Everyone needs to back up,” the DJ yelled. “Stop pushing! ... Think about the people next to you.”
“Everyone raise your hand if you feel a vibe,” the DJ added before repeating for people to stop pushing one another.
Around 20 police officers from different agencies also arrived at the scene shortly after the crowd rushed into the venue.
Entrance gates were opened wide for a period of time after the crowd rush as more students entered the festival.
“We made the strategic decision, given that students had broken down the barricades, to open the fences and allow students through,” said university spokesperson Matt Lazier.
Despite some of the confusion, attendees said they were enjoying the concert so far.
“Honestly, I think it is going really well,” student Charlotte Sheya told The Tribune. “Their motive to control people is going really well. There’s a lot of people here. It’s taken it away from the street.”
She added: “In general I feel like the street is like, I’m standing there, I can’t move. Whereas here it’s like, it’s a concert. It’s fun.”
Cal Poly ‘pleased’ with St. Fratty’s Day response
Galantis finished his set around 7 a.m., which is when the Central Coast Pipes and Drums played a medley of Scottish songs as American EDM artist Zhu got ready to take the stage.
But before Zhu took the stage, about half of the crowd eventually decided to leave the festival and head to the streets.
The police weren’t having it, however.
The assembled students were at first being herded off the street and onto the sidewalk, but as of 8 a.m. they were being told to clear the area entirely.
“Either you go home or you get arrested,” one motorcycle officer told the crowd on a loudspeaker.
The remaining students danced in the morning light as Zhu sang on stage and live-mixed his hits, “Dreams” and “Came for the Low.”
Zhu’s set ended early, Lazier told The Tribune — but it also started early. No reason was given why the set ended, Lazier added.
During Zhu’s set, students were seen leaving, with the crowd of students at his set less than half the size than at Galantis.
Lazier said the university was satisfied with the way Saturday morning played out.
He said the level of damage and disruption in the dorms was minimal compared to previous years. “We attribute that this to our proactive measures implemented for the weekend,” he added.
As for the concert, Lazier said the event went “generally smoothly,” despite students pushing through the security barricades. Cal Poly ultimately decided to allow attendees to enter freely to ensure the safety of both students and others, Lazier said.
“We are also pleased that our goal of keeping students out of the neighborhoods was successful,” he added.
This story was originally published March 15, 2025 at 11:38 AM.
