Arguably the best day of the year in Davis is Picnic Day and it’s nearly here! Picnic day is a day where the university community come together to host a giant event to exhibit the excellent work carried out at the university. The event is targeted towards the whole community; prospective and current students, families, alumni, staff, faculty, and the greater Davis and regional communities. Not only does it advertise the academic research and teaching the university proudly achieves, it also includes everything about the university including the UC Davis police department, the student run bus service, the amazing bands, ethnic group clubs, arts and crafts groups, sports groups and alumni.

April 13th 2019 marks the 109th anniversary of the annual event (for a little more on the history of picnic day, check out our blog on last year’s event). Each year sees a new theme to highlight an important concept to the board of directors but also to the whole community. This year the theme is:

ADVENTURE AWAITS

It is true that everybody who attends the university will look back on the experience as an adventure and this theme will allow prospective students to get a glimpse of what they can expect. Past themes have included “Then, Now, Always”, “A Kaleidoscope of Voices”, “Celebrate Today”, “Freewheeling & Friendly”, “Future Unlimited”, “Research Makes the Difference”, and “Agriculture, the Nation’s Foundation” (full list here).

The day opens at 9.30am with an opening ceremony hosted by the board of directors. The parade will start at 10am where we will see band uh! perform and a procession of representatives from a huge range of groups. After the parade, the schedule has not yet been published but we can expect to see events such as

• Battle of the bands
• Doxie Derby Race
• Chemistry Magic Show
• Children’s Discovery Fair
• Fashion Show
• Cockroach Races
• Student Organization Fair
• Entertainment Stages and
• Sports matches

  This year Taylorlab will be running a stall on the Plant and Environmental Sciences lawn where we will be giving away watercress plants, with an information leaflet on how to grow  these plants and the amazing nutritional benefits that they provide. We will be there from 9am but expect to run out of plants so come to visit us early!

If you are going to be in Davis on April 13th, keep up-to-date with announcements at https://picnicday.ucdavis.edu/ or by liking their facebook page.