Howard University's 2026 Homecoming runs Oct. 11 to 18 under the theme "Wildest Dreams." For neighbors, though, the week begins at a specific minute. At 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 13, Howard's plan closes 6th Street, Howard Place, Girard Street, Bison Boulevard and Fairmont Street. They stay closed until 12:01 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 18. The Morehouse game is still four days off when those streets close.
This year there is also no parade. The long Saturday spectacle on Georgia Avenue is off the schedule. So in 2026, the event that reaches LeDroit Park and Bloomingdale is the stretch of closures around 6th Street that lasts from Tuesday to Sunday. Georgia Avenue itself is partly fenced off for a project that won't finish until 2029.
Why the parade is off this year
Howard announced the change on Sept. 9 along with the rest of the preliminary schedule. The same wording appears on its Homecoming FAQ:
"The Homecoming 2026 Parade will be postponed this year due to the ongoing construction and associated roadway impacts along Georgia Avenue. This event change was made out of an abundance of caution for the safety and well-being of parade participants, our students, alumni, faculty, staff, community members, and guests."
The Alumni Jazz Brunch is also postponed this year.
Howard's statement doesn't say which construction it means. The likeliest candidate is easy to spot, though. The university's own real estate office says of its Wonder Plaza project that "construction impacts are already visible along the Georgia Avenue corridor." Other projects can be ruled out. DDOT's resurfacing between Girard Street and Howard Place was scheduled to finish on March 20, 2026. DDOT's Georgia Avenue bus-priority project is still in design through fall 2026, with construction set to start in spring 2027.
The old bakery at Georgia and Bryant
Wonder Plaza sits at 2301 Georgia Avenue NW, at Bryant Street, in a former Wonder Bread bakery that Howard bought in 1993. Howard reports that site barriers are up, interior abatement is done, and soft demolition is underway. Parts of the Georgia Avenue and Bryant Street façades will be kept. Excavation, concrete and vertical construction come next, and Howard's current delivery target is 2029.
The finished building, called the Fusion Building, is planned as a nine-story, 430,160-square-foot structure. Plans call for 280 student housing units, a dining hall, ground-floor retail and a wellness center below grade. For a façade with that much history, it's a fitting plan. The brick that baked bread for the city stays in place, and a new building rises behind it.
For now, the fence has emptied some of the street's most familiar counters. Four tenants have left:
- Negril Jamaican Eatery closed at Wonder Plaza on May 23, 2025. Its new home is 2928 Georgia Avenue NW, the former NuVegan Café. "Coming soon" signs went up in March 2026, and PoPville described construction inside in June. No reopening date has been announced.
- Potbelly closed in May 2025, and a manager told The Hilltop it wasn't coming back.
- Chipotle and Subway were reported closed at Wonder Plaza by August 2026. A new Chipotle on the 900 block of W Street NW, just off Florida Avenue, had a planned opening date of Aug. 31, 2026. We haven't been able to confirm that it opened on that date.
In August, WTOP asked students about food near campus. Reagann Davis said, "It's been really hard trying to get other food options." That is the Georgia Avenue that returning alumni will find next week. It's a big reason the week's activity is concentrated on campus and on 6th Street.
The closure calendar, day by day
Howard calls this its 102nd anniversary Homecoming. Its operations page sets out the closures in stages. Here they are in order, with the parking lot closures from the same page:
| When | Streets | Parking lots |
|---|---|---|
| 12:01 a.m. Tue., Oct. 13 | 6th St, Howard Place, Girard St, Bison Blvd, Fairmont St close | Childers, Burr Gym, School of Business, Minor and Founders close |
| 6 a.m. Fri., Oct. 16 | College St closes | Just Hall and Chemistry close |
| 6 a.m. Sat., Oct. 17 | Georgia Ave and 4th St close, if DDOT approves | Drew Hall, Georgia Avenue, Johnson Admin, Mackey, Downing, Banneker South, Howard Center and Louis Stokes close |
| 12:01 a.m. Sun., Oct. 18 | The Tuesday and Friday closures end | Lot closures run through Sunday |
Some details need checking before you plan around them. The Georgia Avenue and 4th Street end time is printed as "12 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 16," which falls before the closure begins. Howard also notes that DDOT decides whether those two streets close at all. The parking map linked from the same page is the 2025 map. Howard's FAQ gives a broader window, saying certain roads will be closed "Thursday through Monday." Widely shared closure lists from 2025 describe last year's plan, not this one.
ANC 1B lists a "local streets closed" notice for Saturday, Oct. 17, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The notice doesn't name the streets. Howard says unauthorized vehicles in its lots will be ticketed and towed.
Transit changes with the street plan. Howard recommends Metro or rideshare and points to three Green Line stations: Shaw-Howard University, U Street and Georgia Avenue-Petworth. Campus shuttle stops on 6th Street move to Georgia Avenue and Howard Place. On Saturday, every weekend shuttle drops off only at Sherman Avenue and Barry Place.
What's free on campus
With the parade gone, Howard's free daytime events are all inside the closed blocks. That makes them a short walk for anyone who lives nearby.
- Yardfest Day 1, the concert, on Friday, Oct. 16, from noon to 6 p.m. on The Yard, the Upper Quadrangle.
- The Sixth Street Festival runs alongside Yardfest, with merchandise vendors and food trucks on 6th Street between Howard Place and Fairmont Street.
- FamFest, hosted by WHUT for the fourth year, on Saturday, Oct. 17, starting at 11 a.m. in The Valley, the Lower Quadrangle. It includes PBS KIDS activities, arts and crafts stations and game booths.
- Yardfest Day 2, International Yardfest, on Saturday from noon to 3:30 p.m. on The Yard. It ends right at kickoff.
Howard lists Yardfest as free. The football game and many alumni events cost money or ask for a suggested donation, and tickets are nonrefundable. Homecoming happens rain or shine.
The ticketed main event is Howard against the Morehouse College Maroon Tigers at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Greene Memorial Stadium, 6th and Girard Streets NW. Howard describes the rivalry as coming back to campus after a stretch at the HBCU New York Classic. Saturday's alumni schedule finishes with the Alumni Wine Down at 7 p.m. in the Blackburn Ballroom, 2397 6th St NW.
Earlier in the week, the schedule starts small and grows. Sunday has A Call to Chapel and the Royal Court Coronation. Tuesday has Bison Madness, which opens the basketball season. Wednesday has the Lavender Reception, and Thursday has the Student Fashion Show and the Red, White and Bison Gala.
The week off campus
A few events nearby are tied to Homecoming and fall outside the closure zone.
- Sankofa Video Books & Café, 2714 Georgia Avenue NW, hosts a free book event with author Karyn Parsons on Thursday, Oct. 15, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Howard lists it on its Homecoming calendar.
- The Oliver, 2715 Georgia Avenue NW, is an office and event space. It hosts a Homecoming alumni and friends welcome reception on Friday, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m.
- The Howard Theatre, 620 T Street NW, has Reggae Fest from 10 p.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday, according to its ticket listing.
- metrobar, at 640 Rhode Island Avenue NE, is running a three-day Homecoming schedule. It starts with "Friday Night Lights" on Oct. 16, has the Blaque Mecca Block Party on Saturday and Kegs & Eggs on Sunday, and Sunday details are still to come.
Sunday, Oct. 18, ends the week with a second Call to Chapel and the Young Alumni Brunch. The Tuesday and Friday street closures lift at 12:01 that morning. At 2301 Georgia Avenue, the site barriers are in place for a project that Howard currently targets for delivery in 2029.
Ethan Carson is interested in buildings like the old Wonder Bread bakery, where an old façade is kept and a new building goes up behind it. He follows how projects like this change the blocks around them. If you own a historic home near Georgia Avenue and want to know how its story fits the corridor's next chapter, Ethan Carson is glad to talk it through. Explore the Portfolio.
