Not able to afford Coachella? Look no further than our own Davis, CA. Whole Earth Festival is a hippy-esc, student-ran, music and arts festival presented annually by UC Davis. This year’s Whole Earth Festival, or WEF, was the university’s 54th event of its kind and occurred the weekend of May 12th to May 14th.
This year was my first time at WEF and I was pleasantly surprised at how festival-feeling it truly was. No longer were we on the UC Davis quad, but instead in a hippy haven filled with cool hand-made jewelry and enough vegetarian food to feed a country.
I attended all three days of the festival – Friday, Saturday, and Sunday – and feel as if my extensive time there allowed me to fully enjoy the entirety of what it had to offer.
First and foremost: the food. I had no idea that the festival only contained vegetarian food which was the best news to receive given I am pescatarian and tend to struggle finding good options at festivals and food trucks. I tried a multitude of eats: Pad Thai and Thai tea from the Thai food stand, vegetable bao from The Dumpling House, and the infamous vegan corn dog. The Thai food was delicious – I ‘upgraded’ the Pad Thai to a combination and was given a very, very large portion of pad thai, vegetable stir fry, and a spring roll for just $13. Overall 10/10 and served as a perfect dinner after a long day of being in the sun. The Thai tea was also so refreshing and excellent for a midday pick-me-up in the scorching heat. The vegetable bao were so good that I purchased the plate of three buns two days in a row – I will most definitely be venturing downtown to seek more of these. I had heard good things about the vegan corn dog prior to the festival and it lived up to the expectations. I am not a corn dog lover on a regular basis but it was nevertheless yummy.
Another one of the biggest parts of the festival was the music. Bands played nearly all day and night and served as both background music for perusing the many booths as well as dancing music for mini-concerts. The festival had two stages on each side of the quad which was great for a change of scenery and also allowed festival goers to select the music they wanted to listen to at any given time. Though I missed Friday night’s headliner, I was able to see Saturday’s – Jordana. She has an EP with TV Girl and just happened to perform one of my favorite songs from it which was such a pleasant surprise (I audibly gasped when she announced that it would be the next song). Her set was very mellow, intimate, and a lovely way to end an eventful day. The other more local bands I saw perform throughout the weekend were also so good and all served as perfect music to listen to as I sat on the grass with my friends.
I think for me, the biggest shocker of the event was how many stands that were there – vendors were tightly lined along the perimeter of the quad as well as along the pathway that separates East and West Quad. Multiple walk-throughs of the entirety of the vendors were necessary to just even see all that was offered and every lap I would notice something new. The vendors included tie-dye clothes, face-painting, plants, customisable windchimes, hair-braiding, henna, sweet bakery treats, and jewelry (lots and lots and lots of jewelry–my bank account is definitely hurting). I’m not typically a big purchaser but with the influence of my friends, I couldn’t resist buying at least something. I ended up buying a necklace, three pairs of earrings, a ring, and a Davis-themed postcard.
Despite the temperature getting up to low 90s, I feel as if the Whole Earth Festival was truly perfect this year. I was surprised at how festival-like as well as how diverse the crowd was – young families, students, older adults, etc, all joined together for a fun weekend. I felt so grateful that our town and university has built such a wonderful community to host amazing events like this one. I will definitely be in attendance every spring for the remainder of my years at Davis!