Saturday afternoon, Parking Lot 3 was transformed into a carnival for homecoming festivities with yellow and black balloons, booths set up for games and crafts, a barbeque buffet and a stage for live music.
The Emperors, a local band, played classic hits through the decades such as Led Zeppelin and The Eagles. KBeach Radio was DJing on the other side today’s music next to the Red Bull tent and Kind Healthy Snacks booth that was handing out bars.
Students, staff, alumni and neighbors from around the campus all joined in the festivities of the day before Cal State Long Beach played its homecoming basketball game against Cal Tech.
During the day, a bus shuttled guests around the campus for an open house for homecoming guests. The stops included the CSULB Shark Lab, Burns Miller Japanese Garden, the Student Wellness and Recreation Center and more.
For alumni, it was a chance to see what has changed since they have been on campus. For new students touring the campus, it was an open house, giving them the opportunity to see the university.
Student volunteers were on the buses giving a tour and directing people where to go.
George and Janet Fischer were one of the many people who took the tour of the campus. They have been married for 68 years and both attended Cal State Long Beach. George graduated in 1964 and Janet graduated in 1966, making this year her 50th anniversary since attending the school.
“She would go to school Mondays and Wednesdays and I would go to school Tuesdays and Thursdays and we had kids,” George said.
They attended homecoming last year and try to make as much as possible, but recently have not been able to attend as much because they moved to Rosemead from Seal Beach, which made the drive a lot longer than before for them.
“[The school] is huge and it’s beautiful. The fact how big the whole campus and the landscaping, buildings and architecture is all so lovely,” Janet said. “There are a lot more streets now, so I would not be able to manage it without the tour bus. I would get lost.”
There were also clubs, sororities and fraternities that came out to support homecoming.
Kendall Moran, senior, and Kendrie Withers, sophomore are both part of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority and were tailgating before attending the game.
“I think it is cool to see a sense of community come together because our school does not have a lot of passion for these things all the time,” Moran said.
The biggest difference for CSULB homecoming compared to other schools is the fact that there is no football team, and instead the basketball team plays the homecoming game.
“I think football is more rowdy, and this is more calm and relaxing,” Withers said. “It is still tailgating, but it is not the same.”
The booths were filled with different organizations including Associated Students, Inc., the University Art Museum, Amazon at the Beach, Student Recreation and Wellness Center and many more.
Attending their first homecoming was Precious Grant and Jessica Zuniga, who are both juniors, . They said that they saw advertisements around the campus and thought it would be fun to support.
“I feel like a lot of students come because you see the posters out and makes you excited,” said Grant.
Those who purchased tickets had the chance to a barbeque buffet that was under the tent called Homecoming Pavilion.
Under the tent, tables were set up with more yellow and black balloons and a buffet was set out on the tables for people to get their helpings of food. Pyramid Breweries served beer at the event as well.
People who did not have tickets could still get something to eat at food trucks that they had at the event and included fish and chips as one of the options.
Most of the students were riding the Hurricane ride, taking pictures at the photo booths or playing carnival games throughout the day.