Irvine : UCI to Observe 25th Year With Festival

Jugglers, mimes and musicians in feudal garb will be strolling the campus grounds today as UC Irvine celebrates its annual rite of spring, the Wayzgoose Medieval Faire.

This year, the festival and open house coincide with a variety of events and activities to celebrate the university’s 25th anniversary.

Besides birthday cake for 3,000 people, there will be a campus salute to the planet Earth, game booths, ethnic foods, live bands, marionettes and a health sciences fair.

And in recognition of the many thousands who have died of AIDS, 666 panels of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt will be on display from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the campus Student Center.

Festivities begin at 10 a.m. at the university at Campus Drive and Bridge Road in Irvine.

Aldrich Park, the grassy heart of the campus, will be the site of the Wayzgoose Faire, named for a traditional festival for printers’ apprentices in medieval England. At noon in the park, UCI Chancellor Jack W. Peltason will welcome guests, students and faculty before a blue-and-gold-decked 25-foot birthday cake. The tall cake is artificial, but campus spokeswoman Susan Menning said the real thing will be served nearby.

In recognition of Earth Day, environmental exhibits and literature will be available in Gateway Plaza near the campus library.

Guided tours of the San Joaquin Marsh are scheduled at 9 a.m., 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the marsh entrance on Campus Drive between Jamboree Road and University Drive. Shuttle service for the 11 a.m. tour will be available at 10:45 a.m. outside the Administration building on Pereira Drive.

Also at the Student Center, the university’s College of Medicine and UCI Medical Center will sponsor a Health Sciences Fair from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Capping the day of celebration will be the annual Lauds and Laurels banquet at the Irvine Marriott hotel, where outstanding members of the campus community will be honored for their contributions.