Community welcomed to annual Homecoming

^{The Carson-Newman University marching band plays in the 2017 Mossy Creek Festival Homecoming parade.}

(Oct. 1, 2018) JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — Reunions and football are just two highlights of Carson-Newman University’s annual Homecoming celebration. The 2018 Mossy Creek Festival will also feature a musical, golf tournament, poetry reading, parade and festivities such as a KidsZone, food trucks and entertainers.

Carson-Newman invites the community to join in the celebration, which will span several days but center around events on Saturday, Oct. 13. Many of the festivities are free, including live entertainment, the parade and kids’ activities.

“There’s nothing quite like the celebrations, reunions and gatherings that take place each year at Homecoming,” Director of Alumni Relations Amy Reed said. “It’s a festive time for our entire Carson-Newman community of students, alumni, faculty and staff, but it’s also a time of welcoming to the community at large. Who doesn’t enjoy good food, lawn games, inflatables for the kids, a parade and, of course, a football game to top it all off?”

A few highlights of the Mossy Creek Festival events include:

• The annual Homecoming Musical, “The Drowsy Chaperone,” will take place at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 11-13, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14, in Gentry Auditorium. This “musical within a comedy” spoofs American musical comedy of the roaring 1920s.
• The 25th annual Homecoming Golf Classic, held at Patriot Hills Golf Club in Jefferson City, will begin with a shotgun start at 9 a.m. Friday, Oct. 12.
• The 10th annual Henrietta Jenkins Memorial Poetry Reading at the Appalachian Cultural Center will feature Bobby C. Rogers at 4 p.m., Friday, Oct. 12. Rogers is an award-winning poet and a Witter Bynner Fellow at the Library of Congress.
• Orange and blue flags will proudly wave during the festive parade at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13. The parade will march through campus in a musical celebration of Homecoming.
• Carson-Newman’s football team will face off against Mars Hill at 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, in Burke Tarr Stadium in the traditional conclusion to the festivities.

For tickets, registration, additional information and an interactive feature that allows you to add events of interest to your computer or phone’s calendar, visit: cn.edu/homecoming

Founded in 1851, Carson-Newman is a Christian liberal arts university located in Jefferson City, Tennessee, among the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. The University has over 2,500 students and offers 50 undergraduate majors, as well as associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees.