ACU Homecoming runs from Thursday, October 29, through Sunday, November 1, 2026. Most of the schedule is written for people coming back to campus. Seven events require registration in advance: the JMC Alumni Breakfast, the Graduate School of Theology breakfast, the ACU Bands breakfast, the Occupational Therapy brunch, the Wildcat Bar Association reception, the Reunion Lunches on the Campus Mall, and the Golden Anniversary Club lunch. Registration closes October 26.
That leaves the rest of the schedule to anyone who lives close enough to walk over. The open events aren't spread evenly across the four days. Most of them land in two short stretches. The first is Friday from midafternoon to about 8:30 p.m. The second is Saturday from 10 a.m. to about 2 p.m. If you live near campus and have no class year to celebrate, those two stretches are your Homecoming. Thursday and Sunday each add one free game.
Friday Afternoon Starts at the Reactor Building
The Friday stretch opens at 3:30 p.m. with the NEXT Lab Open House in the Dillard Science and Engineering Building, which runs until 5 p.m. Of everything this week, it has the most recent news behind it.
On September 21, ACU reported that more than two tons of specialized salt had been delivered to the Dillard Science and Engineering Research Center from the U.S. Department of Energy. The salt came from Oak Ridge National Laboratory by way of Idaho National Laboratory. It is for the Molten Salt Research Reactor that NEXT Lab is building with its partner, Natura Resources. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the reactor for construction at ACU. According to the university, it will be the nation's first university research reactor in more than 30 years.
The salt goes back further than the building does. The U.S. ran its Molten Salt Reactor Experiment from 1965 to 1969 and logged more than 13,000 hours. NEXT Lab director Dr. Rusty Towell called the delivery "the next step in a project that was launched back in 2019." The lab employs about 50 people, including 30 undergraduate students. Many people in north Abilene have watched the project's headlines for years from a few blocks away. The open house is a scheduled 90 minutes when the building is open to visitors. You can read ACU's account of the salt delivery before you go.
Friday Evening Moves to the Hardin Lawn
When the open house closes at 5 p.m., the Carnival opens on the Hardin Administration Building lawn. It runs until 7:30 p.m. and costs $5 per person. Here is the rest of the Friday evening schedule in order:
- 5–7:30 p.m. Carnival, Hardin Administration Building lawn, $5 per person
- 6:30–8 p.m. Chemistry Circus and Physics Funomenon. The schedule doesn't list a location yet.
- 7:45–8:30 p.m. Candlelight Devo, on the Hardin Administration Building steps
- 8 p.m. Fiddler on the Roof, Boone Family Theatre, ticketed
- 8–10 p.m. The Language and Literature department's Hemingway Celebration Party at Seven and One Books
The Carnival and Candlelight Devo use the same building, one on the lawn and the next on its front steps. A family could stay put from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and catch both.
The Hemingway party is the one that leaves the neighborhood. Seven and One Books is at 1138 North 2nd Street, which is downtown, not on campus. The shop calls itself an independent hometown bookseller. If the party puts it on your calendar, its events page also lists a Booktoberfest on October 17, two weeks before Homecoming.
Saturday Morning Belongs to East North 16th Street
The parade runs Saturday, October 31, from 10 to 11 a.m. on East North 16th Street and Campus Court. The ACU Optimist's photo recap of the 2025 parade describes floats from campus organizations and Greek groups, and candy handed to children along the route. This year the parade falls on Halloween morning. Families with costumed kids get an early start on the day.
The parade's timing also explains the rest of Saturday. Kickoff against West Georgia is at 3 p.m. at Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium. ACU Athletics' general game-day guidance says the other campus lots open four hours before kickoff, which puts the opening at 11 a.m., right as the parade ends. Parking is first come, first served in designated areas. Hillcrest Church of Christ and University Church of Christ are listed as off-campus parking options. That guidance covers game days in general. No 2026 street-closure notice for the parade or the game had been published at the time of writing, so check ACU Athletics' ticket and parking page closer to the date.
Neighbors who don't need to park somewhere at 11 a.m. can stay in the car-free stretch of the morning. Between noon and 2 p.m., the Don H. Morris building hosts three events open to walk-in visitors:
- Artisan Market, outside the Don H. Morris main entrance
- Art + Design Archival Art and Studio Furniture Sale, in the Don Morris lobby, the first-floor hallways, and Room 143
- Interior Architecture + Design Open House and Ribbon Cutting, in the Don Morris lobby, Room 201, and the third floor
In the same two hours, Terry Browder's 50th-Year Alumni Exhibition and Reception is in the Shore Gallery. The furniture sale stands out from the rest. It is the one item on the schedule that lets you take a piece of the campus home.
Game-day tailgating at Wildcat Stadium runs from 1 to 3 p.m. The 2026 public ticket price for the West Georgia game hadn't been posted where we could confirm it, so check ACU Athletics before you budget for the game.
The Display That Runs All Week
One open event sits outside both stretches. "Prickly Pears on Display" runs in Brown Library on Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to midnight, Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The official schedule doesn't describe what's on display, and it's the only event that is open for most of the week rather than for an hour or two. If the Friday or Saturday stretch doesn't fit your weekend, Thursday's long library hours give you another chance.
The Free Games on Either End
Thursday and Sunday each add one free event, and both are soccer games at Elmer Gray Stadium:
- Thursday, October 29, 7 p.m. ACU Soccer vs. Tarleton, free admission
- Sunday, November 1, 1 p.m. ACU Soccer vs. Arkansas-Little Rock, free admission
Neither game requires registration, and neither runs at the same time as anything else on the open schedule.
What Fiddler on the Roof Costs
The Homecoming Musical is the one event most neighbors will plan around, and it is also the most expensive. Fiddler on the Roof plays at Boone Family Theatre at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday. Here is what each ticket costs:
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| Thursday, Oct. 29 preview | Donate what you can |
| Public admission | $50 |
| Children 12 and younger | $25 on the ticket office page, $35 on the ACU Theatre page |
| Area college student rush, available one hour before doors | $15 |
ACU's two pages list different children's prices, so confirm the figure at checkout before you buy for kids. ACU Theatre describes the Thursday preview as a donate-what-you-can "preview dress invitation." It costs the least. It also falls on the quietest night of the week, before the Friday crowds arrive. A household of two adults would pay $100 for a regular performance and whatever they choose to give on Thursday. Tickets are sold through ACU's ticket office.
After the Alumni Leave
The campus calendar stays open after Homecoming. On Thursday, November 5, the Carmichael-Walling Lectures bring Nicola Denzey Lewis to Room 114 of the Onstead-Packer Biblical Studies Building for talks at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Both are free and open to the public. On November 21 at 7:30 p.m., ACU Theatre presents Life is Beautiful, a one-night dance concert at Fulks Theatre with a reception afterward.
Homecoming week has the most open events on campus all fall. Friday's stretch costs $5 a person for the Carnival. Saturday morning's parade and markets are free.
Here at BHHS Stovall Realtors, we think the best weekends around ACU happen within walking distance of home. If you have friends or family thinking about the neighborhood around campus, we'd be glad to show them the same streets the parade uses and talk through what a fall here looks like. Contact Us whenever you're ready, and enjoy the parade.
