Former Peach Blossom performer helps organize 62nd year of festival

(12:45 p.m. March 11)
UPDATE — event canceled: Following evolving guidance from the CSU Chancellor’s Office as well as state and local public health agencies regarding the COVID-19 situation, the Peach Blossom Festival that had been scheduled for March 12 and 13 has been canceled. The University is evaluating near-term events and meetings on a case-by-case basis for a determination of any potential cancellation or postponement.

(Original story below)

In 2007, Pader Vue stepped foot on Fresno State’s campus for the first time for the Peach Blossom Festival.

“I felt so excited coming to Fresno State as a fourth-grader,” Vue recalled. “My older sister went to Fresno State, so I was bragging that as a fourth-grader, I was already going to college.”

Thirteen years later, Vue is now one of the Communication Department students hosting the 62nd annual Peach Blossom Festival on March 12 and 13.

Over 6,000 students from elementary schools all over the Valley, from as far north as Livingston and as far south as Delano, will be participating in the festival. The festival was created to allow children the opportunity to have a positive experience on a college campus while allowing them to appreciate and perform through oral interpretations.

Teams of students run the festival with oversight from faculty directors Christina Wells and Elise Barba. Vue, who is now a junior at Fresno State, is on the T-shirts team that is responsible for designing and ordering shirts for the big day.

“I wanted to join Peach Blossom due to taking Christina Wells’ “Comm 164” class. Once she said, ‘Peach Blossom,’ memories started popping up in my head from fourth grade,” Vue said.

Vue said her experience in fourth grade, as one of the thousands of elementary school students to perform literature, is informing her current role in organizing the festival.

“I learned that my mentality has to be to think like the kids who are participating. As adults, we want the festival to be perfect, but as kids, they just want to have fun and if it’s fun for them, then it is something they will always remember.”