Homecoming 2024 hopes to bring community back to campus

For the first time since 2019, McMaster will host homecoming festivities in hopes of creating an exciting event that brings students together

The McMaster Students Union, in conjunction with the athletics and recreation department and student affairs, is planning a full day of homecoming events on Oct 5, 2024. This will be the first time in half a decade that homecoming events will be held on campus.

The main event will be the homecoming football game, scheduled from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Ron Joyce Stadium. The McMaster Marauders will take on Western University's Mustangs. McMaster students can obtain a free ticket online or at the box office. In the evening, students can enjoy the homecoming concert headlined by Loud Luxury and featuring Lil Tecca.

MSU President Jovan Popovic has played an integral role in organizing this year’s homecoming, delivering on his 2024 presidential campaign promise to improve student events and bring back an on-campus homecoming. “Coming out of the pandemic, engagement was a major, major pillar in my platform when I was campaigning and running for this position ... We saw a lack of belonging, a lack of community. And we felt that this was a really, really strong effort to really try and reel that back in and bring something significant that could help unite the McMaster community,” said Popovic in an interview with The Silhouette.

In addition to traditional homecoming events, the MSU is also organizing its inaugural homecoming festival. Highlights of the festival will include live music, free giveaways, vendors and The Monster, a 300 metre inflatable obstacle course. There will also be a 19 and older licensed area within the festival.

“We knew that given this is something that [we] lacked on campus for so many years, that we had to bring it back big. We knew that this had to be something that students would immediately become excited by and gravitate towards,” said Popovic.

McMaster last held a sanctioned homecoming in 2019 before in-person operations ceased due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When McMaster began re-opening campus in the fall of 2021, the school chose not to hold any homecoming events.

In recent years, unofficial parties, dubbed “fake homecoming”  or "FOCO", have drawn thousands of students to neighborhood streets, disturbing residents in McMaster’s surrounding community.

An on-campus homecoming cannot prevent such parties from happening — street parties occurred at McMaster in 2019 and earlier, and are popular at other universities with sanctioned homecoming events. However, Popovic hopes that homecoming will be an exciting alternative that draws students to stay on campus. “There were a lot of students who weren't interested in taking part in the street parties or were afraid that there was an unsafe environment there and we wanted to offer the best possible alternative option,” said Popovic.

Popovic said he hopes homecoming will foster community, culture, and belonging among students. A key part of achieving this goal was planning a variety of events throughout the day to appeal to different students. “I think that we've really thrived in creating an event that almost every McMaster student is really going to enjoy. I'm really excited to see what the reaction is as we keep moving forward,” said Popovic.

Homecoming 2024 promises a packed schedule of events. Further information about programming can be found on the official homecoming website. Stay tuned as details continue to be unveiled.