UT welcomes football fans and alumni to campus this Saturday for Homecoming.
Kickoff is set for noon EST for the Volunteers’ game against the University of North Texas Mean Green. Gates open at 10:00 a.m. The SEC Network will televise the game.
Fans are encouraged to follow @UTGameday on Twitter or visit utsports.com/gameday/football for the latest updates on traffic, weather, gate information, and game day events.
Homecoming Events
This year’s Homecoming theme is “Mean Green Meets Rocky Top: Let the Games Begin,” and fans can enjoy more than 40 events leading up to Saturday’s football game.
The annual Homecoming parade will begin at 4:00 p.m. Friday, November 13. The parade will start at Fiji Island beside Fraternity Park and will travel west on Volunteer Boulevard.
Gus Manning will serve as this year’s parade grand marshal. Manning, the university’s consultant athletics director, has served UT for sixty-four years since being hired by General Robert Neyland in 1951.
Homecoming’s signature event, Party in the Park, will begin at 9:00 a.m. in Circle Park. Attendees can enjoy live entertainment, performances by the pep band and cheerleaders, door prizes, face painting, and balloon art. There is no admission fee; however, the cost to eat barbecue is $12 per adult and $8 per child ten and under. For more information on Homecoming, visit homecoming.utk.edu.
Colleges and student organizations will host reunion activities throughout the weekend. For a list of all event details, including registration information, visit volsconnect.com.
Parking and Traffic
Due to construction and road closures in the campus area, fans are encouraged to arrive early and to plan ahead to determine the best routes of travel and parking.
Ongoing work on the Cumberland Avenue Corridor project may result in significant traffic slowdowns both before and after the game. UT and the city of Knoxville have recommended specific routes to campus. To view or download a map of the routes, visit tntoday.utk.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/2015-GameDayParkingMap.pdf. For more information on the Cumberland Avenue Corridor project, visit cumberlandconnect.com.
Only fans with permits can park on campus. UT encourages fans to use Knoxville Area Transit shuttle buses for a round trip to Neyland Stadium. For more information on shuttle routes, visit katbus.com/maps/route51.pdf.
Downtown Knoxville has several city garages and private lots. To plan where to park, visit knoxparking.com and parkdowntownknoxville.com.
Phillip Fulmer Way will close to through traffic from Middle Drive to Tee Martin Drive three hours before kickoff.
Thirty minutes before kickoff, the remainder of Phillip Fulmer Way as well as Peyton Manning Pass, Middle and Lower Drives, and Estabrook Road, will close to vehicles.
The latest information on campus construction can be found at conezone.utk.edu.
Game Day Activities
The traditional Vol Walk will start at 9:45 a.m. on Volunteer Boulevard near Circle Park, as the members of the football team proceed down Volunteer Boulevard and then continue down Peyton Manning Pass to the stadium.
The Pride of the Southland Band, joined by alumni band members, will begin marching at 10:15 a.m. from the Natalie L. Haslam Music Center on Volunteer Boulevard to the Haslam Business Building, then make a right turn onto the new pedestrian bridge connecting Volunteer Boulevard to the Hill. The band will then circle down the slope to Phillip Fulmer Way, perform a musical salute to the Hill, and enter the stadium from the north.
The Toyota Volunteer Village offers pregame festivities for fans of all ages beginning at 8:30 a.m. Located in the Humanities Plaza, Toyota Volunteer Village features pregame appearances from Smokey, Junior Smokey, cheerleaders, and UT’s dance team.
Fans also can attend the College of Arts and Sciences Pregame Showcase. Held two hours before each home game kickoff in the auditorium of UT’s McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, the showcase is a free thirty-minute presentation by a UT faculty member. This week, at 10:00 a.m., Devon Burr, associate professor of earth and planetary science, will present “Searching for Extraterrestrial Rocks in Antarctica.” For more information, visit tntoday.utk.edu/2015/11/09/pregame-showcase-examines-extraterrestrial-rock-antarctica-november-14.
Stadium Security
The UT Police Department reminds fans that alcoholic beverages, cans, bottles, and coolers are prohibited in Neyland Stadium. Anyone attempting to enter the stadium under the influence of alcohol will be subject to ejection or arrest.
No backpacks of any kind or size are allowed inside Neyland Stadium. All items, including purses, are subject to search at the gates. Purses or other bags larger than twelve inches by twelve inches by twelve inches cannot be brought into the stadium.
The following items are also prohibited from the stadium:
- weapons of any kind, including pocket knives
- stadium seats with arms
- video cameras
- open umbrellas
No items can be left or stored at stadium gates. Fans can bring the following items inside the stadium, provided they meet the size requirement:
- cushions and seats without arms
- small diaper bags that accompany infants
- small cameras, pagers, cell phones, and binoculars
For a full list of permitted and prohibited items, visit utsports.com/gameday/football.
Due to security checks at the gates, fans are encouraged to arrive at their designated gate at least thirty minutes prior to kickoff.
In accordance with state law, no smoking is allowed anywhere inside the stadium. If fans leave the stadium to smoke, they will not be readmitted.
Commercial solicitation in front of Neyland Stadium from Middle Drive to Gate 10 is prohibited starting four hours before kickoff and until the game ends.
—
CONTACT:
Charles Primm (865-974-5180, charles.primm@tennessee.edu)