San Luis Obispo officers work to squelch rowdy parties, photos

March 15, 2025

By KAREN VELIE

Blocked streets, a concert at Cal Poly and a large police presence led many students to head to the bars in downtown San Luis Obispo on the eve of St. Fratty’s Day.

An estimated 6,500 people gathered on residential streets near the Cal Poly campus on March 16, 2024 for the annual Saint Fratty’s Day celebration. Students passed around plastic jugs filled with alcohol, played loud music and danced in the streets.

They vandalized dorms, broke glass and left trash throughout the area.

Following years of vandalism, injuries and arrests; city and Cal Poly officials are attempting to end the large outdoor parties in the neighborhoods near the campus. Cal Poly hosted a 6 a.m. music festival that attracted thousands of students on Saturday.

Students leaving the concert encountered large numbers of law enforcement officers and deputies ordering students to stay off the roadways. While officers blocked California Boulevard from Highway 101 to Taft Street, no parking signs lined streets neighboring the campus.

As planned, many of the students headed to the downtown area with lines forming at McCarthy’s Irish Pub and the Mark Bar & Grill, which opened at 10 a.m.

The St. Fratty’s Day concept began about 16 years ago when a former Cal Poly student and fraternity member who was living at the “Pink House” created the event. The Pink House is the home located at 348 Hathaway Avenue where the first party occurred.

In years since the initial party, residents on Hathaway Avenue have maintained the tradition. The partying generally starts around 4 a.m. on St. Fratty’s Day, the day before St. Patrick’s Day.