Tours & Open Houses

Check back often as events will be added to the website frequently — right up until Homecoming weekend!

Parents' Campus Tour

Homecoming Headquarters Tour Tent
10/13/18 10 a.m.–11:30 a.m.  

Get to know the campus’s architecture and history on this walking tour led by a knowledgeable guide. If you’re a Cal parent, this tour is especially for you, though you’re welcome to also join any other campus tour throughout the weekend.

ON SITE PRICING HERE YO

On-site registration will be offered if space is available. Registration also includes unlimited access to lectures, tours, open houses, and all the amenities available at Homecoming Headquarters.
Hide

Art for the Asking: 60 Years of the Graphic Arts Loan Collection

Bernice Layne Brown Gallery, Doe Library
10/12/18 8 a.m.–9 p.m.  
10/13/18 9 a.m.–5 p.m.  
10/14/18 1 p.m.–9 p.m.  

Living with original prints in order to foster a better appreciation of art was the goal of the Graphic Arts Loan Collection when it was created in 1958. This exhibit will look at the unique program’s 60-year history and showcase prints from the collection’s past and present.

Hide

Could The Handmaid’s Tale Happen Here? Has It Already?

Moffitt Library
10/12/18 8 a.m.–5 p.m.  
10/13/18 9 a.m.–5 p.m.  
10/14/18 1 p.m.–5 p.m.  

“On the Same Page,” the campus’s common reading program, has selected Margaret Atwood’s classic novel of speculative fiction, The Handmaid’s Tale, as this year’s reading. Moffitt Library hosts a companion exhibit showcasing the historical antecedents of the novel’s dystopian world through quotes and images from the collections.

Simply show your Homecoming badge at the entrance for access.

Hide

Doe and Moffitt Libraries and Gardner Stacks Open House

Doe Library
10/12/18 8 a.m.–5 p.m.  
10/13/18 9 a.m.–5 p.m.  
10/14/18 1 p.m.–5 p.m.  

Explore these libraries that have served the campus for more than 100 years. Be awed by grand spaces like the North and Heyns reading rooms and delve into the exhibits of the Bernice Layne Brown Gallery. Plus get special access to the 52 miles of shelves in the Gardner Stacks.

Simply show your Homecoming badge at the entrance for access.

Hide

Fiat Yuks: Cal Student Humor, Then and Now

Rowell Cases, Bancroft Library
10/12/18 8 a.m.–9 p.m.  
10/13/18 9 a.m.–5 p.m.  
10/14/18 1 p.m.–9 p.m.  

Let there be laughter! This exhibition features selections from UC Berkeley campus humor magazines, the yearbook, and other student publications.

Hide

University and Jepson Herbaria Open House and Tours

1001 Valley Life Sciences Building
10/12/18 8 a.m.–12 p.m.  
10/12/18 1 p.m.–5 p.m.  

With more than 2.2 million specimens representing all plant groups from around the world, the herbaria hold the largest collection of their kind at a U.S. public university. Visit on your own time to see these delicately preserved specimens, from marine algae to California flowers, or join a guided tour at 1 or 3 p.m.

Hide

Cal Café

Alumni House
10/12/18 9 a.m.–5 p.m.  
10/13/18 8 a.m.–11:59 p.m.  

The Cal Alumni Association invites you to join us and celebrate Homecoming with complimentary refreshments and light snacks. Stop by on Friday or before the big game Saturday to receive special edition Cal souvenirs and learn more about CAA’s extensive programming and services for alumni and students.

Visit alumni.berkeley.edu for more information.

Hide

Environmental Design Library Open House

210 Wurster Hall
10/12/18 9 a.m.–5 p.m.  
10/13/18 1 p.m.–5 p.m.  
10/14/18 1 p.m.–10 p.m.  

The Environmental Design Library has the largest collection west of the Mississippi for architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning. During Reunion and Parents Weekend, the library will have a custom exhibit of Chinese Architect He Jingtang’s work on display for public viewing.

Hide

Bearing Light: Berkeley at 150

Bancroft Library
10/12/18 10 a.m.–4 p.m.  
10/13/18 10 a.m.–4 p.m.  

This exhibition celebrates the University of California’s sesquicentennial anniversary with photographs, correspondence, publications, and other documentation drawn from the university archives and the Bancroft Library collections. It features an array of golden bears — including Oski — and explores the illustrious history of UC Berkeley.

Hide

Campanile Open House

Campanile (Sather Tower)
10/12/18 10 a.m.–3:45 p.m.  
10/13/18 10 a.m.–4:45 p.m.  
10/14/18 10 a.m.–1:30 p.m.  
10/14/18 3 p.m.–4:45 p.m.  

Get a spectacular, sprawling view of the Bay Area from the observation platform of Sather Tower, also known as the Campanile. One of UC Berkeley’s most beloved and well-known symbols, the Campanile is the third tallest bell and clock tower in the world, visible for miles at a height of 307 feet. Enjoy daily carillon concerts at 7:50 a.m., 12 p.m., and 6 p.m.

Visitor Services has waived admission for Homecoming guests — simply show your badge at the entrance.

Hide

Campus Walking Tour

Homecoming Headquarters Tour Tent
10/12/18 10 a.m.–11:30 a.m.  
10/12/18 1 p.m.–2:30 p.m.  
10/13/18 10 a.m.–11:30 a.m.  
10/13/18 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m.  
10/13/18 1 p.m.–2:30 p.m.  

Learn about campus architecture, history, and university life during a 90-minute walking tour led by a knowledgeable campus ambassador.

Hide

Lawrence Hall of Science Open House

Lawrence Hall of Science
10/12/18 10 a.m.–5 p.m.  
10/13/18 10 a.m.–5 p.m.  
10/14/18 10 a.m.–5 p.m.  

The Lawrence Hall of Science is UC Berkeley’s public science center. Ever-changing interactive STEM exhibits encourage visitors of all ages to explore, investigate, discover, and invent. Visitors can plot the stars in the planetarium, experience science on the big screen in the National Geographic 3D Theater, design and test their own inventions in Design Quest, and meet a variety of animals in the Animal Discovery Room. 

The Lawrence Hall of Science has waived admission for students and Homecoming guests this weekend — simply show your Cal student ID or Homecoming badge at the entrance for admission for up to six people. We strongly recommend visiting on Friday or Sunday since access on Saturday can be severely limited due to football road closures.

Hide

Botanical Garden Tour

UC Botanical Garden
10/12/18 11 a.m.  
10/12/18 12:30 p.m.  
10/12/18 1:30 p.m.  
10/13/18 11 a.m.  
10/13/18 12:30 p.m.  
10/13/18 1:30 p.m.  
10/14/18 11 a.m.  
10/14/18 12:30 p.m.  
10/14/18 1:30 p.m.  

Explore the incredible diversity of plant habitats from six continents — redwood forests, deserts, tropical forests, wetlands — at the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley. Feast your senses on special collections of orchids and carnivorous plants, the Garden of Old Roses, and spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge. You can take a docent-led tour or visit any time during open hours for a self-guided stroll.

The UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley has waived admission for Homecoming guests — simply show your badge at the entrance. We strongly recommend visiting on Friday or Sunday since access on Saturday can be severely limited due to football road closures.

Hide

Hearst Museum Open House

Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, Kroeber Hall
10/12/18 11 a.m.–5 p.m.  
10/13/18 10 a.m.–6 p.m.  
10/14/18 11 a.m.–5 p.m.  

Alumni, parents, and friends are welcome to stop by anytime to explore the current exhibit, Face to Face: Looking at Objects That Look at You. You can also virtually travel to archaeological sites around the world through the interactive CAVE kiosk or take a break and chill out in the Lounge of Wondrous Anthropological Discoveries.

The Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology has waived admission for Homecoming guests — simply show your badge at the entrance.

Hide

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life Open House

Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life
10/12/18 11 a.m.–4 p.m.  

View four exhibitions highlighting the treasures of one of the world’s preeminent Jewish collections in a university setting.

Please visit magnes.berkeley.edu for exhibition details.

Hide