This weekend's Homecoming festivities will start well before kickoff time at the football game.
Tonight, the Tufts University Spirit Coalition (TUSC), the primary organizers of Homecoming, will sponsor a parade and a pep rally.
Although usually held on a Saturday morning and cancelled last year because of rain, this year the parade will take place tonight at 8:45 p.m. on Kraft Field.
From there, the parade will go past the campus center, onto Packard Avenue, and will end at the academic quad.
All student organizations were invited to be a part of the parade. According to Brittany Sommer, a co-chair of the Spirit Coalition, approximately fifteen groups showed up Wednesday night to make banners to carry in the event.
A pep rally will immediately follow the parade. The event, set to start at 9:30 p.m., will feature music by GrooveBoston and skits by Tufts cheerleaders and athletic teams.
The rally will also be the chance for students to vote for their favorite candidates for Homecoming King and Queen.
Though traditionally students have been able to vote prior to the rally, the early arrival of Homecoming this year created time constraints that prevented this, said Arya Meydani of the Entertainment Board, the student group that sponsors the elections.
"It's just because Homecoming this year started earlier," he said. "We didn't have time to have a separate day to have it during the week in the campus center."
Although both juniors and seniors are eligible for the honor, this year's nominees are all seniors. Even so, according to Meydani, students in all classes will be able to vote.
This year's nominees for King are Jonathan Chan, Charles Bonello, Michael Stone, and Jeffrey Vanderkruik.
Christina Pastorello, Jojo Yang, Kelley Ferro, and Ellen Gorra are the candidates for Queen.
Students will also have the opportunity to win a digital camera and a $100 gift certificate to the bookstore in raffles held at the pep rally.
Three people will also be chosen to try to kick a field goal at halftime during the football game. At stake in the event is a $500 dollar gift certificate to a store of the winner's choice - excluding liquor stores, according to Sommer.
Additionally, the members of the team with the best skit will win a dinner at Bertucci's, sponsored by the Tufts Alumni Association.
In the event of rain, Sommer said, there will still be events indoors, although the sponsors are hoping for better weather than last year's rain.
"Hopefully this year the weather will hold up and we'll have a successful pep rally outdoors," she said.
