Once an Aggie, always an Aggie and, this year's Picnic Day, celebrates that Aggie pride with its 2026 theme “The Journey Home.” Picnic Day is a time when the community comes out in full force with numerous exhibits, plenty of games and activities, a parade, battle of the bands, a fashion show, a student organization fair, a wiener dog race and even a football game.
Here in the College of Letters and Science, we love all that Picnic Day has to offer, but we love what our departments are doing best! So, if you, like us, don't want to miss what L&S Aggies are planning for April 18, we want to make it easier by providing this guide, featuring events from across the arts and humanities as well as math and science.
Picnic Day, which is free and open to the public, takes place 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 18. Find the full line-up events and try out ASUCD's new 'Picnic Day Scheduler' feature here.
A celebration of the arts
From student musical performances and the annual fashion show to the "Synth Petting Zoo" and several limited-time museum exhibitions, this year's Picnic Day won't disappoint art lovers.
Enter a fashion 'Labyrinth'
We suggest planning ahead and securing your ticket now to this year's FADS fashion show, "Laced in Reverie," inspired by the 1986 film Labyrinth.
"'Reverie' meaning a state of being pleasantly lost in one’s thoughts or daydreams," said Amy Lee, FADS co-president. "We wanted to capture the elegance of the fashion show’s theme as well as the dreamlike nature of nostalgia and self-discovery in our designer’s collections to show how things are delicately laced together like clothing.”
The event will spotlight fashion created and executed by Department of Design undergraduate students in the “Signature Collection” course. The event will take place outside in the Makerspace Courtyard at Cruess Hall at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
There will be eight signature collection designers in total. The show will also include single and cohort garments along with new additions to the university’s acclaimed Red Dress Collection, which uses fashion to bring awareness to women’s heart health issues.
Seating is ticketed, standing is free. Pre-sale (ends April 10) tickets are $15, tickets (April 11-17) are $17 and on Picnic Day are $18, if available.
Cruise around Cruess for limited-time exhibitions
Head inside Cruess Hall before or after the fashion show to cool off and experience Embodiment, a design experience back for Picnic Day only, in classrooms across the first and second floors, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.; and Village Homes: A Radical Plan in the Design Museum from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Embodiment explores the intersectionality of exhibition, theatrical and narrative design practices to create an immersive experience through human emotion, multi-sensory perception and a journey through personal struggle and growth. Embodiment is an experiment to research how static environments can be transformed into engaging spaces and mediums for storytelling.
You can also learn all about The Village Homes neighborhood — yes, the one with street names inspired by The Lord of the Rings books — which started as a radical design experiment in community living right here in Davis in 1975. See how the iconic neighborhood took root in a town shaped by the influence of the university, a new and progressive local government, and a culture open to forward thinking. A bit of luck — and a lot of vision — helped turn that moment into a model for sustainability still studied today.
Happening in the Maria Manetti Shrem Art District
If you've ever wondered what it is like to make music on a synthesizer, you're in luck! Between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Art Annex 101, the UC Davis Sound Lab's "Synth Petting Zoo" will allow you to put your hands on some of their synthesizers and other sound-producing tools, and experience the sonic wonder of live electronic music.
Up next, head to the Ann E. Pitzer Center to hear what students in the Department of Music have been working on this year, ranging from solo piano to harp, Samba and Percussion Ensemble. (11 a.m. - Noon)
Or, if you have younger children in tow, head to children's story time in the courtyard at Shields Library from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The library is also displaying a Picnic Day-only special exhibit on UC Davis history and traditions, and is showing off their new Aggie-themed group study rooms. Color-your-own postcard, collect new “taste of Davis” recipes, and explore exhibits about the Davis Farmers Market and the centennial of Route 66. (11 a.m. - 2 p.m.)
Still hungry for more art?
The Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art (10 a.m. - 5 p.m.) is giving visitors a behind-the-scenes look at the UC Davis Fine Arts Collection as the artwork goes through the digitization laboratory. The collection and exhibit features pieces from some of the university's most notable artists, including Roland Petersen, Robert Arneson, Wayne Thiebaud and Deborah Butterfield. There's even work by Ansel Adams and Andy Warhol as well as more contemporary artists, many with ties to UC Davis. Plus, welcome back William T. Wiley’s beloved public sculpture with a resounding gong.
Stop by at 1 p.m. for a special ceremonial sounding as Chancellor Gary May rings Gong for the first time. The museum says, "Help us make Gong’s journey home complete and give it a ring."
Also on exhibit at the museum are experimental sculptures that speak to familial and cultural ties across time by Oakland-based artist Sahar Khoury.
Nearby at the Gorman Museum for Native American Art (11 a.m. - 5 p.m.), experience the art of Shelley Niro. Niro is known for her ability to explore traditional stories, transgress boundaries and embody the ethos of her matriarchal culture. A member of the Kanyen’kehaka (Mohawk) Nation, she uses a variety of media to bring greater visibility to Indigenous women and girls.
Looking for a unique gift to bring home? Don’t forget to check out the museum shop!
Experimenting with math and science
Moving onto what is often thought as the other side of our brains, Picnic Day has plenty in store for those yearning for mathematics, statistics and, of course, wild science experiments!
Kick-off the day by heading to the courtyard of the Mathematical Sciences Building, which is home to an array of scenic plants and flowers, and explore the fascinating worlds of mathematics and statistics. From 9 a.m. until 1 p.m., the department is hosting an array of fun games that show how math and stats exist in everyday life.
Between 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., help yourself (and the kiddos) to more hands-on math and science in the picnic area of the Earth and Planetary Sciences Building. EPS promises puzzles, kinetic origami, magical cube bubbles, homopolar sculptures and the opportunity to build your own kaleidoscope! And, solve a math riddle for a prize and discover geology in Spanish with Paleotería.
Inside from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., see the future in action with a variety of exhibits about outer space and our planet. Grab a dinosaur hat and check out displays and demos for all ages. (Lobby and in rooms 1348, 1316, 2110, 2204)
Engage with all things weather over at Hoagland Hall. Activities include interactive atmospheric science demonstrations, discussions, weather balloon launches and a green screen (in Hoagland Hall 124) where you can play meteorologist for the day!
'Meteorologist Cosplay Green Screen' and 'Children’s Interactive Atmospheric Science Exhibit' both run 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., while weather balloon launches run 11 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.
Learn aspects of the weather and join us for interactive atmospheric science demonstrations, discussion and child-friendly activities!
And, last but not least, one of the most popular Picnic Day events of all time is back again this year with four shows at Peter A. Rock Hall 194. Yes, we're talking about the Chemistry Magic Show!
The Chemistry Magic Show is a demonstration of the wonders of chemistry where UC Davis students use their knowledge of chemistry to teach, inspire and amaze people of all ages. Shows are at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Tickets are free and will be available on the morning of April 18.
Find the full line-up of activities and events at picnicday.ucdavis.edu.
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Celebrating 100 Years of Roland Petersen, UC Davis Professor Emeritus and Picnic Day Painter
UC Davis Professor Emeritus Roland Petersen, known for his Picnic Day paintings, reflects on his life’s work and his personal love story. Petersen, who turned 100 on March 31, still paints every day. He was also one of the first arts faculty hired at UC Davis.
Students Help Show Inner Workings of Museum, Digitize Fine Arts Collection
An exhibition on view at the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at UC Davis shows in real time the digitization of the university’s Fine Arts Collection. Visitors not only view the art but watch as it’s unpacked, photographed and entered in a database where it will be searchable by the public soon.