The beloved weekend-long Earth Day celebration returns with an array of music, activities and more
BY SHREYA KUMAR — arts@theaggie.org
Each spring, the UC Davis Quad transforms into the Whole Earth Festival (WEF), a student-run event that raises awareness for sustainability and the environment. The large-scale festival began as a small art project in the late 1960s, aiming to teach students and community members alike about the importance of taking care of our environment through art and other creative activities.
Tents pop up like wildflowers, music drifts through the trees and tie-dyed cloth ripples in the breeze. For over 50 years, WEF has served as more than just a weekend event — it’s also an expression of what makes UC Davis so special.
Held from May 9 to 11, 2025’s WEF drew thousands of students, alumni, artists and environmentalists to the UC Davis Quad for a weekend rooted in sustainability and connection. WEF provides a space for students to browse goods by local vendors or even sell their own, and be part of a larger artistic community overall. Whether it’s through music, art, dance or drag, the festival invites students and community members to indulge in many different styles of performance and art.
Dozens of vendors lined the Quad pathways, transforming the heart of campus into a colorful, dynamic arts and crafts market. Among them was “The Aggie Baggie,” a brand created by UC Davis alumna Chloe Wang, who studied computer science and managerial economics before graduating in December 2024. Her booth stood out as a fan favorite at WEF with stickers, acrylic pins, door hangers and more featuring cute and playful cow-themed designs illustrated by Wang herself.
“Sometimes, someone will come up and say, ‘I bought your sticker three years ago from a little table at the corner of campus, and it’s been on my laptop ever since,’” Wang said. “I will remember those moments for the rest of my life. I’m beyond honored that I’ve been given this chance to connect with others and bring them a little extra joy, and I’m so grateful that WEF has given me the opportunity to do so. The Whole Earth Festival was the first festival that took a chance on me — just a student artist with a tiny table and a silly cow sticker. WEF has always been a festival where the community comes out to find joy in art, music and connection with each other, and that connection and shared happiness is the whole reason I’m in love with making and selling my art.”
Music played a central role in shaping the festival’s atmosphere, filling the Quad with rhythm and energy from morning to night. Local and student musicians took over the Cedar and Quad stages, drawing crowds that danced, swayed and sprawled out on picnic blankets under the sun. Indie headliners like Neggy Gemmy, Girlpuppy and Fig attracted huge audiences with their vibrant sets, while local acts like Carabeza, an art-rock band from the San Francisco Bay Area, brought a more experimental edge to the lineup. Together, these artists shaped a soundscape that was unpolished, heartfelt and unmistakably Whole Earth.
“We were welcomed with the Davis heat and a golf cart ride to the quad stage,” a Carabeza member said. “We walked around, enjoyed the vendors and music and got to play a sweaty and energetic set for the earth dwellers at WEF.”
Workshops took place across the festival grounds, offering everything from rock painting and pressed flower collaging to drag shows and yoga lessons. Many were led by students and alumni, highlighting the festival’s ethos of shared learning and creating art together.
While the art and music make the festival vibrant, its environmental mission is what grounds it. At a university known for putting sustainability first, the festival is another way to showcase how we live out our environmental values. All vendors were required to sell vegetarian food and use recyclable or compostable materials, and volunteers helped sort compost and make WEF a truly zero-waste event. Even the cob bench near Wellman Hall, a campus symbol of sustainability, was built during a workshop at the 2004 WEF.
“When I think about it, WEF creates so much of the student culture here on campus,” an anonymous student said. “The fashion, the art, the music, it all comes together at WEF and you can see what students here are really all about.”
Even as the sun set on the final day and the crowds slowly thinned, the energy remained. For many, WEF is more than a campus tradition — it is a reflection of what us students hope the world can be, and a chance to enjoy being part of a community larger than what we have here in Davis. Even as tents come down and music fades, what lingers is the sense that something meaningful happened here, and that it will continue to happen every year after.
Written by: Shreya Kumar — arts@theaggie.org
