Thousands revel at Cal Poly for St. Fratty’s Day concert, streets remain quiet

At least 11,000 people showed up to frolic and revel at Cal Poly’s second annual St. Fratty’s Day music festival on Saturday — the university’s effort to curb the street partying that in 2024 peaked with 7,000 people packing the nearby neighborhoods.

The festivities kicked off early, with gates opening ahead of schedule, just after 4:30 a.m.

Crowds of green-bedecked students slowly but enthusiastically trickled into the on-campus venue before larger crowds started to amass. Some students could be spotted in Cal Poly garb, green wigs or fairy wings.

Others were busy dancing and cartwheeling to bass-heavy electronic music sets, starting with local act McKenna and Ev, followed by headliners Walker and Royce, and then Odd Mob.

At its peak, the concert hit about 11,000 attendees, according to university spokesperson Matt Lazier. All 14,000 available tickets had been claimed prior to the event.

As the sun rose, large crowds began to head for the exit, even as headliner Odd Mob took the stage and performed a couple songs alongside Walker and Royce.

Though the crowd did start to thin out, the front gate remained packed shoulder to shoulder, with some concertgoers surfing the crowd and others perched on the shoulders of friends.

As the gates opened, The Tribune spoke with a few groups of students about the event.

Freshman business administration major Skylar Ruggiero said she was excited to experience her first St. Fratty’s Day — something she said Cal Poly is known for.

“It’s cool that they put this on because it kind of, like, makes something for all Cal Poly students to get together,” she said.

Scott Rapposelli, a third-year business major who transferred to Cal Poly this year, said he was excited to spend his first St. Fratty’s Day celebrating with his close friends. “We’re bringing good vibes this year, and this is gonna be the best Fratty’s ever, because we’re here,” he said.

When asked if he had heard about the previous street party traditions, Rapposelli said he had, but hadn’t ever been.

“Every day is a party, if you’re having fun, if you’re doing what you love, you’re really having fun,” he said. “And that’s a part of the experience of college, and that’s a part of the experience of life. So shout out to life.”

Meanwhile, another Cal Poly student who was later walking away from campus on California Boulevard, wasn’t so enthused about the campus concert.

Troy Bean, an aerospace engineering major, said he wasn’t able to get a ticket to the Morning on the Green event but had friends going. He was headed to the bars in downtown SLO instead.

When asked if he liked the campus option or wished for the annual street parties back, he responded: “Street parties, but I think they should just tone it down a little bit — like the house incidents and stuff, like the roof caving in and stuff, it’s obviously not cool – but street parties are pretty cool.”

Partying results in some injuries, hospitalizations

While most partygoers appeared to enjoy a safe, jovial St. Fratty’s Day, a few people did wind up in the hospital.

As of 9:04 a.m., Cal Poly had seen a total of 10 people transported to the hospital, Lazier told The Tribune.

Nine of those transports were due to intoxication, he said.

Six of the alcohol-related medical calls came from campus “Sober Up” centers — five from the concert and one from another center.

Three “Sober Up Spaces” were set up on the Cal Poly campus on Saturday to help provide support to students who were under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the St. Fratty’s Day celebrations.

“These spaces provide students who are under the influence — but breathing and conscious — a space to rest and sober up,” the county Behavioral Health office said in an Instagram post. “Students dropped off at Sober Up spaces will be monitored and supported by sobering center professionals.”

Three additional calls came from elsewhere around campus, Lazier said.

Five of the nine students had been released back to the sobering centers, Lazier said at the time.

The tenth hospitalization was a head injury that Lazier said resulted from a fall in the creek area near the concert venue.

Lazier did note the university was “not seeing significant partying elsewhere on campus.”

What about the neighborhoods?

The Morning on the Green music festival started in March 2025, after both Cal Poly and the city of SLO received complaints from community members about the annual St. Fratty’s Day street parties that had occurred in past years and resulted in vandalism on and off campus, and injuries after a roof collapsed in 2015.

Saturday marked the second annual campus-hosted event.

And while some student groups tried to congregate around the neighborhood streets in 2025, the areas around Cal Poly were generally quiet Saturday morning with the majority of foot traffic heading toward the university music festival, police told The Tribune just before 6 a.m.

San Luis Obispo Police Department spokesperson Christine Wallace said the department received several noise complaints “as expected” in the early morning and “some citations were issued.”

As of about 7:40 a.m., however, “there have been no attempts at congregating in the streets,” she said.

In a news release shared later Saturday morning, the SLO Police Department clarified that between midnight Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday, it had issued 19 citations for “various nuisance order violations,” and conducted one arrest for an assault in downtown SLO.

“There were no attempts at gathering in the streets in the neighborhoods, and closed roadways were reopened by 9:30 am,” the release said.

Units from the San Luis Obispo Police Department, Arroyo Grande Police Department, California Highway Patrol and more than a dozen other outside agencies were all on hand in the area.

The release said 21 agencies other than SLOPD assisted with enforcement, including departments from farther away, including the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office and the San Francisco Police Department.

Partial road closures were in place on Hathway Avenue, California Boulevard and nearby streets, and residents in a chunk of the neighborhood bordering Hathway were required to show copies of their leases to officers to gain entry to the area.

The roadways were reopened by 9:30 a.m., the release said.

A safety enhancement zone was in place this weekend, meaning fines would be doubled for violations like unruly gatherings, public urination and open containers, and the District Attorney’s Office said it would once again charge crimes associated with St. Fratty’s Day without the option for misdemeanor diversion

Downtown bars get heavy foot traffic as festival slows down

As the Morning on the Green started to wind down, crowds of students left the field — but not all of them were done with the party.

By 8:15 a.m., long lines had formed outside of popular SLO bars, like Libertine and Frog and Peach, as the Morning on the Green wrapped up.

A number of downtown bars were expected to be open early for St. Fratty’s Day.

Police were also monitoring the areas downtown, watching over the crowds of students.

This story was originally published March 14, 2026 at 4:50 AM.