Nearly 5,500 visitors are expected for this year's fall Family Weekend at the University of Colorado at Boulder, hosted by the CU-Boulder Parents Association.
The Oct. 17-19 weekend event enables parents and other family members to visit students on campus and to participate in activities such as a golf tournament, musical performances, a 5K fun run/walk, a faculty awards ceremony and the Colorado-Kansas State football game.
"Registration was so good this year that we were actually sold out three weeks prior to our deadline," said George "Barney" Ballinger, director of the CU-Boulder Office of Parent Relations. "Every year it seems to grow. People actually started calling right after Family Weekend last year. We've already got questions about 2009."
The variety of offerings have helped to make Family Weekend so popular, Ballinger said.
"It's the combination of fun things - like tours to the National Center for Atmospheric Research and bus tours of Boulder, and a new thing this year, a fly-fishing class, as well as informative events like those offered at the Faculty Convocation," he said. "Those things, plus a football game against Kansas State, make it a very appealing time to come."
Though most events for Family Weekend have already sold out, visitors can still participate in many of the other activities listed on the office's Web site at /.
This year's activities will include tours to local places of interest and presentations such as the "University Forum" featuring CU-Boulder Chancellor G.P "Bud" Peterson and many of the campus's senior leaders.
The "Buffalo Family Stampede," a 5K run/walk that will be held Sunday, has attracted more than 600 participants.
Ninety percent of the money generated by the Stampede will be donated to the University of Colorado Student Union's Student Health Board.
On Friday, Oct. 17, in the Glenn Miller Ballroom, Peterson will greet visiting parents during a welcome luncheon. Later in the day, he will introduce newly tenured faculty members during the third-annual Fall Convocation Awards Ceremony at 1:30 p.m. at Old Main Chapel.