Don’t Miss Baylor University’s Homecoming Parade Streamed Live from 5th Street

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Baylor University will livestream the 117th anniversary Baylor Homecoming Parade, the oldest and largest collegiate homecoming parade in the nation, with live coverage from 7 to 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, from Fifth Street on the Baylor campus.

The parade livestream is made possible by the generous support of the Sadie Jo Black Family Foundation. Hosting this year’s Baylor Homecoming Parade are the “Voice of Baylor Softball,” Dan Ingham, and Lori Fogleman.

What to know about the 2026 Baylor Homecoming Parade

• New parade route: The Baylor Homecoming Parade will step off at 7 a.m. at its typical location at Eighth Street and Austin Avenue in downtown Waco. It will travel down Austin Avenue before taking a new route to campus. Instead of Fourth Street, the parade will turn right on Fifth Street, which leads straight to the Baylor campus. The parade is expected to arrive around 7:30 a.m.
• How to watch the livestream: The parade livestream will begin at 7 a.m., with early programming before the parade enters campus. The parade can be viewed on the Baylor virtual events website, Baylor’s official Facebook page and the Baylor YouTube channel.
• In this year’s parade: This year’s parade will feature more than 160 entries, including 10 elaborately designed floats, 15 balloons, the Baylor Golden Wave Marching Band, campus and community organizations, and university, state and community dignitaries, including Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D., First Gent Brad Livingstone and Waco Mayor Jim Holmes.
• Grand Marshal: The Grand Marshal of the 2026 Baylor Homecoming Parade is Baylor Acrobatics & Tumbling Head Coach Felecia Mulkey. Coach Fee, as she is known, has guided her Baylor teams to 11 straight NCATA national championships and in 2027 will lead the Bears into the inaugural NCAA championship season for Acrobatics & Tumbling. Coach Fee also played a key role in Acrobatics & Tumbling earning full NCAA championship status.
• Homecoming at the Hurd after the parade: The Mark and Paula Hurd Welcome Center and Spirit Shop will be open from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday for Homecoming at the Hurd with Baylor history exhibits, Homecoming poster giveaways, gameday face tattoos and boot ribbons available in Carlton Hall. A Sensory Room hosted by Baylor Center for Disability and Flourishing will be open Saturday from 8 to 10:30 a.m. in Hurd Room 215. The Hurd Welcome Center will reopen after the game from 2:30 to 6 p.m.
• Kickoff at 11 a.m.: Following the parade, the Baylor Bears will host the Iowa State Cyclones with kickoff at 11 a.m. at McLane Stadium. Limited tickets are available at BaylorBears.com/tickets.
• Backyard Live Tailgate Postgame Concert: Don’t forget about the Baylor alumni-led Graham St. Clair Band performing for Saturday’s Baylor Backyard Live Tailgate Concert Series in Touchdown Alley. The band is scheduled to take the stage 15 minutes after the conclusion of the Baylor-Iowa State game.

History of the Baylor Homecoming Parade

In the fall of 1909, Baylor University alumni received a surprising invitation from their alma mater. A postcard signed by three professors asked the graduates to return to campus to “renew former associations and friendships, and catch the Baylor spirit again.”

Thus began Baylor University’s Homecoming, the nation’s first collegiate homecoming celebration. Throughout the years, the Baylor Homecoming Parade – the oldest and largest collegiate Homecoming parades in the nation – has featured horse-drawn carriages and wagons, bands, student and civic organizations, dignitaries and more. Student organizations create floats that add to the campus spirit for the upcoming football game, and giant balloons and other participants add to the excitement of the parade.

After the first parade traveled from downtown Waco to the campus in 1909, Baylor defeated TCU in the Homecoming football game 6-3 on Carroll Field, a simple dirt and grass field located behind Carroll Science Building, where Vara Martin Daniel Plaza and the Bill Daniel Student Center now stand.

Floats first appeared in the parade in 1915. Floats became standard for the parade during the 1920s. It wasn’t until the 1950s that the floats began to take note of Baylor’s opponent for the Homecoming football game. By 1960, practically every float carried a slogan that forecast doom for the mascot of the opposing team.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for nearly 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Learn more about Baylor University at www.baylor.edu.