Homecoming Traditions

Everest Saric

Cliffside Park High School is holding its first ever homecoming dance. The theme of the dance is “A Night Under The Stars.” It will be held at La Fortuna in Fairview on November 18th. Tickets are currently on sale for $45. Many students are excited for this new CPHS tradition. However, many students are wondering what a homecoming dance is.

Homecoming is traditionally a dance held the night after the last football game of the season. It represents athletes “coming home.” Homecoming is usually filled with a week-long schedule of events, ending with a semi-formal dance. Homecoming originally began at colleges as a celebration for the first ever football game of the season. Alumni would come back to visit their former campuses and celebrate the football team. The first college to start the tradition is unrecorded. However, the University of Missouri, Baylor University, and the University of Illinois all claim to have begun hosting homecoming events in the years 1911, 1909, and 1910.

Each school has its own unique traditions. Soon, so will CPHS. Some traditions include a Homecoming Court, proposals, mums, bonfires, and tailgating. Tailgating is part of football festivities. It is when students follow the bus the football team is taking to an away game. Once they arrive at the other school, all the students park in a parking lot and set up games, barbeques, and decorate their cars before the game starts. Tailgating is a great way to support your high school’s football team and stir up school spirit as the school year begins. Many schools in the South have homecoming bonfires to kickstart the new school year. The bonfires are social events where students can reconnect and start the school year off on a fun note.

Homecoming mums started when a boy gave a chrysanthemum flower to his homecoming date. It has become much bigger than that. Mums were originally a Texas tradition but have now expanded to other states such as Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, North Dakota and Virginia. A mum is made out of ribbon and given to a girl to wear on the day of Homecoming and to the football game. Boys’ mums are attached to a garter and worn around their arm. A mum is centered around a silk flower with streaming ribbons. The ribbons usually contain their name, the name of their date, and their grade. Mums are traditionally homemade but now can be bought at a floral shop. Mums are not cheap, as they average at $90.

Homecoming proposals stem from Promposals, the tradition of making a big public proposal to ask someone out for Prom. Promposals have become so popular that now many students are also doing it for homecoming. Proposals usually take place in school. One person makes a poster board asking their date out in a creative way. Many proposals have been posted on social media and become very popular on social platforms such as TikTok. A Homecoming court is made up of seniors voted to hold different positions such as the queen, king, prince, princess, duke, and dutchess. The members of the court are usually announced at the dance. Homecoming court is very similar to Prom King and Queen; the only difference is that it is just a cabinet that holds more members.

Hopefully this article was able to clear up any questions students may have about Homecoming and leave you inspired to start homecoming traditions of our own. See you at the dance!