Camp Blue Comes to Murfreesboro: MTSU’s Homecoming Week, Day by Day
Middle Tennessee State University is trading the usual tailgate look for a campground this year. The Homecoming 2026 theme, “Blue Raider Country: Meet me at Camp Blue,” turns a week of campus tradition into something closer to a woodsy retreat, with a haunted house, a cookoff and two marquee Saturday events: a parade down East Main Street and a rivalry game against Western Kentucky.
The Student Government Association and the Alumni Association planned the week together, and the lineup is broader than usual. Here is how it breaks down.
Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 2-3
The week starts Monday with Paint the Halls Blue, from 1 to 4:30 p.m., when departments are encouraged to decorate in camp style. Entry forms are due by noon Friday, Oct. 30, with judging beginning Tuesday. That evening, Camp Blue Bash fills Walnut Grove and the James Union Building from 5 to 8 p.m. with music, dancing, games and crafts, plus a haunted house inside the building. Tuesday brings Lightning's Campfire Cookoff, 5 to 7 p.m. in the Student Union Commons, where departments and student groups compete in the annual chili and mac-and-cheese contests. Registration closes at noon Oct. 30.
Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 4-5
Wednesday is the quiet night: Kickback on the Sun Deck, 6 to 9 p.m. at the Campus Recreation Center, is an outdoor movie with blankets and camp chairs encouraged. Thursday is anything but. A scavenger hunt called Horseshoe Pursuit runs all day on Instagram, and at 7 p.m. at Murphy Center the first show in a new concert series, Live at MTSU, features Bailey Zimmerman and Waka Flocka with special guests Miller Holler and Dee Jay Silver. Doors open at 6, and tickets are sold through Ticketmaster. You can read more in our earlier coverage of the Zimmerman and Waka Flocka show and the Live in the ‘Boro concert series. Earlier on Thursday, at 4:30 p.m. in Walker Library, a researcher from Oaklands Mansion demonstrates Victorian hair work, from wirework to table-braiding.
Friday, Nov. 6
Alumni take over. The Golden Raiders Reunion at 9:30 a.m. inducts the Class of 1976, followed by the Alumni Awards Reception at 4 p.m. for the Distinguished Alumni, Young Alumni and True Blue honorees, and a 5 p.m. reception for the Social Work department's 50th anniversary. The Blue Raider Sports Hall of Fame induction is at 6 p.m. at Floyd Stadium, the NPHC Homecoming Step Show begins at 7 p.m. in the Student Union Ballroom ($10), and the MTSU Black Alumni Society hosts a party from 8 p.m. to midnight.
Saturday, Nov. 7
The Alumni Association's Mixer on Middle parade watch party opens at 9:30 a.m. with grilled cheese from an electric griddle, bounce houses and souvenir photos; bring a camp chair. The Homecoming Parade steps off at 10 a.m. at East Main Street and Maney Avenue and turns onto Middle Tennessee Boulevard, ending before Greenland Drive, and community groups and businesses can still register to march. At 11:30 a.m. the Alumni Tailgate BBQ Lunch and Party in the Grove open at Walnut Grove, with a singer-songwriter performing at 12:30 p.m., Raider Walk at noon and the Follow Me to Floyd march at 2 p.m. Kickoff against Western Kentucky is 2:30 p.m. at Floyd Stadium.
MTSU opened in 1911 as a teacher-training school, and Homecoming has grown into one of Murfreesboro's biggest annual gatherings, with the parade route running right along the edge of campus. If you are bringing out-of-town guests, our Book Your Stay page is a quick way to look at places to book.
Registration and ticket details are on the MTSU Alumni Association and Student Government Association Homecoming pages.
Image: illustrative, AI-generated – not the actual location.
