(Photo by Jose Romo Jr./Clovis Roundup)
The 45th annual Vintage Days festival returned to Fresno State for a weekend filled with music, food, activities and entertainment for the public to enjoy.
The three day event is put on by the students of Fresno State. It hosts 150 food and craft vendors and attracts around 50,000 attendees each year, according to Bryna De Fede, the student director of Vintage Days.
The event’s Craft Faire offered various items, including homemade art, jewelry, apparel and other crafts.
Each Vintage Days sees both new and returning vendors.
One Vintage Days regular in attendance was Brian Gleser, whose Harmony Tie-Dyes booth has been a returning fixture at the event since the 1980s.
“I’ve been doing this show off and on because I used to help my parents when they would do it,” said. “Vintage Days, hands down, is the best family-friendly show of any festival that we do…and you’ve got some of the best premier artists from all over California, Arizona, Nevada and some of them farther.”
Student clubs and organizations operated food booths with a variety of appetizing options, the proceeds of which went to helping fund the programs.
One such organization was the veteran and active military fraternity, Omega Delta Sigma, which had a booth selling Frito boats and lemonade.
“A lot of the stuff that we do, we try to give back to the veteran community around here,” said Juan Ortiz, a member of Omega Delta Sigma who served four years in the Marines and is now a Fresno State student. “Vintage Days is one of the biggest days that we make money. Right now, we’re doing what we call ‘Freedom Boats,’ so instead of Frito boats we just give our little spin on it.”
There were also several popular businesses present, such as Olde Tyme Kettle Korn, Dutch Bros. Coffee and Dippin’ Dots Ice Cream.
A beer and wine garden offered a spot for adults to enjoy drinks and play games, such as Jenga and cornhole, under a shaded canopy.
The Kid’s Zone was a popular choice for the young event-goers, where a $7 wristband provided unlimited access to inflatable slides and bounce houses, a train ride, a petting zoo, pony rides and a reptile show.
The concert stage at the event hosted a number of local artists, DJs and performers throughout the weekend, and Saturday evening also featured a viewing of the movie “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” all of which were free of charge.
This year’s festival had a new edition, the Student Zone, where Fresno State students participated in activities, such as a mechanical bull on Friday, a wing eating contest on Saturday and a donut eating contest on Sunday.
On Sunday, the Vintage Days Car Show returned for its second year, featuring classic and new hot rods, cars and trucks.
The entire Vintage Days festival is planned and coordinated by a student committee throughout the year.
“It’s actually all student run and planned at Fresno State. So we already actually are picking the committee for next year because they will start planning right away,” De Fede said. “The planning starts right after this Vintage Days for the next one, so it’s a year-long planning time.”
The festival is made possible by sponsors, volunteers, Fresno State’s Student Involvement Center and the Vintage Days student committee.