Vintage Days, Fresno State’s spring festival, returns Friday-Sunday, April 20-22, with its traditional weekend full of food, crafts and special events and some new attractions for the more than 50,000 campus visitors who attend the event each year.
Fresno State began its tradition of spring festivals with Raisin Days in 1927, a community celebration of one of the region’s signature crops. The event was christened Vintage Days in 1972 and has been presented every spring since then.
Although not officially part of Vintage Days, the campus celebration begins at 7:30 a.m. with the traditional Staff Assembly pancake breakfast served by campus administrators and coaches for students, faculty and staff.
Vintage Days begins at 10 a.m. when the Boomtown Carnival and Crafts Faire opens on the Maple Mall south of the Satellite Student Union.
Opening ceremonies start at 11:45 a.m. when a parade is led by the Bulldog Marching Band from the University Student Union Pit to the concert stage, on the southwest end of Maple Mall. Fresno State President John D. Welty and ASI President Selena Farnesi will deliver welcome messages to formally open Vintage Days.
At the carnival, student clubs and organizations raise money by hosting booths with food and games up and down the mall, while about 150 craft vendors cluster at the north end for one of the 200 best shows in the United States, as rated by Sunshine Artist magazine readers.
A Kids Zone offers pony rides, a petting zoo, bounce houses, a giant slide and arts and crafts.
All three attractions are open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. each of the three days.
Concerts throughout the weekend will showcase the talents of 20 performers beginning with a new feature, the KSEE Summer Concert Series, which kicks off 1-5 p.m. April 21.
At that concert, Fresno TV station KSEE-24 will present the first four contestants in its Central Valley’s Top Talent vocal competition. They qualified during a casting call on campus in March. Other auditions will lead to more contestants singing at each of the station’s summer concerts until an overall winner is chosen in October.
Also new is the Vineyard 5K Run/Walk at 9 a.m. April 22, open to all ages and benefitting the V.E. Petrucci Library in the Viticulture and Enology Research Center on campus and Vintage Days. Registration – $25 adults, $15 for children and students – is available at http://jcast.csufresno.edu/ve.
Other Vintage Days events include:
- Vino Italiano! – 5:30-7:30 p.m. April 20 in the Fresno State Winery (2360 E. Barstow Ave.) , a tasting of student-made Italian varietal wines. Admission to people 21 and older with ID — $15 general, $10 for Fresno State students, staff, faculty and alumni, $5 for Fresno State Wine Club members.
- Casino Night – 6-10 p.m. April 20 in the University Student Union Lounge with gaming tables such as blackjack and poker, raffle prizes and karaoke.
- Outdoor movie – 8 p.m. April 21 on the Concert Stage, a screening of “Grease,” preceded at 7:30 by a costume contest.
- Closing ceremony – 4:30 p.m. April 22 at the stage.
Vintage Days is organized by a student-run committee within the Student Involvement Center in the Division of Student Affairs led by Kathryn Updyke, a junior electrical engineering and math double major, and adviser Josh Edrington.
For more information, contact Student Involvement at 559.278.2741 or visit Vintage Days.
(University Communications news assistants Nicole Maul and Reganie Smith-Love contributed to this report.)
