Sacramento State will celebrate its annual homecoming celebration Oct. 8-13 with activities for the campus community and alumni, including a festival and a $200 prize for the best tailgating party before the football game.
The Homecoming Festival and tailgating party is 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, in the Alumni Center parking lot. The Alumni Association will award a $200 prize for the best student and alumni/community tailgate party and the Athletics Department will award a plaque. To register for the competition, visit the Alumni Association booth (located on the southwest edge of parking lot 8 outside the Alumni Center) between 10 a.m. and noon the day of the event. Judging begins at 12:30 p.m.
Festival activities include live music by Mumbo Gumbo and the Sacramento State Marching Band, jump houses, a balloon artist and carnival games. Festival events are open to the community.
“The Homecoming Festival has really taken on a different feel this year,” says Linda Scott, alumni services coordinator. “We’re encouraging traditional tailgating, and that gives fans an opportunity to show their Hornet Pride. Add in the excitement the community has for this football team and you have a real positive vibe going on.”
The weeklong celebration will also be a birthday tribute to Herky, the school mascot. Herky turns 60 this year and two iPods will be awarded for the best video tributes to him and uploaded to YouTube. Contest details are available at ww.csus.edu/Herky.
Homecoming activities kick off at noon, Monday, Oct. 8, with the annual “swarm” photo of students, staff and faculty in the Library Quad. The group photo is a long-running University tradition.
Graduates from 1949 to 1958 will be honored at a Golden Grads reunion and luncheon, 11:30 a.m., Wednesday, Oct. 10, in the Alumni Center.
Musical entertainment during the week includes a concert by the indie pop/rock group Radio Astronomy, noon, Wednesday, Oct. 10, at the University Union Serna Plaza, and a cultural demonstration of Filipino music and dance by the Ifugao Music and Dance Ensemble of Banaue, 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 11, in the University Union Ballroom.
The Stinger Golf Classic is 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12, at the Woodcreek Golf Course.
Homecoming week wraps up when Sacramento State’s football team takes on Montana at 2:05 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 13 at Hornet Stadium.
