By Connor Lālea Hampton, August 26, 2025
Between screaming, dancing and singing, Broncos sweated out ASI Beat’s BroncoFusion Friday, Aug. 24.
For all students, whether freshmen, transfers or returning, Cal Poly Pomona offers their annual fair-like festivity without the stale carnival smell.
While captivating, the main event was not the mini golf, face paint, photo booth or carnival games. BroncoFusion’s headliners stole the attention of almost every participant, leaving the event area empty except for the hair tinsel stand.
DJ Anakin and MixedbyAlley charged the crowd with pop party music and made students feel like they were in their “Gossip Girl” era. Multiple students commented they favored the 2010’s nostalgia remixes. Heritage brought out strong original vocals and high-energy music students danced hard to, despite not knowing all the 2-year-old band’s lyrics.
“I lowkey really love it, like they’re so good,” said biology student Kaitlynn Vicario. “I think I’m really liking the beats.”
Heritage’s parental advisory, fast tempo and funky synth resonated deeply with the student body, with some students rushing to look up the songs they played after the show.
American rapper Swae Lee kept up the energy with his electronica twist to R&B and hip-hop. Students especially erupted for songs like “Sunflower,” from “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” “Black Beatles,” “Hopeless Romantic,” and “Come Get Her.”
Throughout his performance, Lee hyped up CPP students for matching his energy and unleashing their inner rockstar.
“The coolest thing you can do is be smart,” Lee said. “You’re the f—-ing future.”
Despite jumping around stage and interacting with the crowd, Lee’s vocals stayed strong even during his acapella performances. Lee ended his show by playing his new songs.
“I think they definitely got popular artists, even if I didn’t know I was definitely surrounded by people that did absolutely know who this artist was,” said computer science student Chantelle Mendis.
To compensate for the blazing 99-degree heat, ASI set out free Aquafina water bottles, while students waited in long lines for their wristbands and misted students upon consent throughout the day.
Once students got past security, they had an opportunity to indulge in free sweet treats including cotton candy, snow cones and popcorn. The cotton candy flavor options were both sour and fruity with cherry, blueberry and lemon lime. The snow cone flavors were cherry, grape and fruit punch.
“I think I’ve gone to the cotton candy stand like four times already,” Mendis said.
Additional food options were four food trucks and a snack stand that sold guilty pleasures like Takis, Hot Cheetos, Celsius, Nerds and gummy bears. The Poly Trolley served its tender beef frank Cali Dog and Classic Cheeseburger Special.
For Greek food enjoyers, Kalamaki offered savory classics like beef, lamb and chicken gyros with a pita and salad option. For students big on spice, Love Bird served fried chicken as well as a ghost pepper chicken burger called the “Firebird” with jalapeno slaw and ancho chili mayo.
The most popular food truck of the night was Tacos ChicanX, which served authentic Mexican entrees such as tacos, burritos and quesadillas.
According to one of the cooks, the truck’s most popular dish is “El Burrito.” The entree is a flavorful monster of a burrito packed with surprises like tater tots and cotija cheese. The tortilla is coated with another crispy cheese and served with both red and green salsa. The asada and pico de gallo were juicy and seasoned with spicy aioli.
The most popular station students could visit besides the stage was the opportunity to get hair tinsel, with wait times as long as an hour and a half.
Nour Darwiche, a criminology student, said she was drawn to the hair tinsel because she’d seen it on TikTok and thought it looked cute. Vicario, who was standing with Darwiche in line, said she felt like ASI did a good job entertaining CPP students.
“I think they catered really well,” Vicario said. “I think they really just kind of like looked up our feeds, and they were like, ‘We’re going to give them what they want.’ That’s what they did.”
The Care Center offered a relaxation station where students had access to fidget toys, aromatherapy, menstrual products, slime kits, weighted sloths and Uno.
Director of Care Services Marisol Mendoza said relaxation stations will be available at all future ASI events.
“I think it’s a good way to sort of break the ice about being in university because you just get to hang out with a lot of your new friends and just make more memories together,” Mendis said.
