Before the sun was up, loud music and cheering students could be heard from blocks away. Large crowds gathered early for the Morning on the Green concert where DJs, including Odd Mob, performed to celebrate St. Patrick’s day.
Nearly 11,000 people were in attendance for the at 4:30 a.m. on Cal Poly’s Lower Sports Complex Lower Fields, according to Cal Poly spokesperson Matt Lazier. 14,000 tickets were available for the second annual event. This year’s celebrations included additional measures by event staff for safety and local police to keep partygoers off the streets.
At the concert, 10 people were taken to the hospital, according to University spokesperson Matt Lazier. While nine were due to intoxication (five from the concert sober-up space, one from the Sierra Madre sober-up space and three from other parts of campus), one was the result of a head injury in the creek area outside the Lower Sports Complex. There was no alcohol served during the concert, a change from last year.
Bishop Peak is illuminated as the sun rises on the crowd at Morning on the Green. Credit: Mia Dahlgren / Mustang News 
The crowd at Morning on the Green is full of green outfits. Credit: Mia Dahlgren / Mustang News 
Walker and Royce get the early morning crowd excited for Morning on the Green. Credit: Mia Dahlgren / Mustang News 
The stage at Morning on the Green as the sun rises and students enjoy Walker and Royce. Credit: Mia Dahlgren / Mustang News 
Local opener McKenna and Ev start Morning on the Green with their DJ set. Credit: Mia Dahlgren / Mustang News
READ MORE: St. Patrick’s Day music festival overrun last year
Several attendees collapsed during the concert and were escorted away by golf carts into a white medical tent by the side of the event. To get those attendees out of the crowd, the event staff displayed a message on a large video board, directing people to step back from the stage and create space.
By 8:30 a.m., the concert crowd began to dissipate, leaving plastic water bottles, paper wrappers and small bottles of alcohol on the field. According to Lazier, there was no significant damage to report.
The San Luis Obispo Police Department wrote in a press release that between midnight on and 10 a.m. on Saturday, they issued 19 citations for “various nuisance order violations” and one arrest downtown.
Unlike last year, the streets around campus were quite empty and lined with police presence. On some streets, parking was blocked by orange cones and lit by large floodlights. The SLOPD press release said that there were no congregations in the streets and that closed roads were reopened by 9:30 a.m.
READ MORE: History of St. Fratty’s Day at Cal Poly
The added measures from the SLOPD come after previous years of large street gatherings that some saw as loud and disruptive.