A boat will burn on Lake Osceola Friday night, fireworks will light the sky over the University of Miami, and thousands of students and returning alumni are expected to gather along the water for one of the university’s oldest traditions.
The spectacle on Nov. 13, known as Hurricane Howl, is the centerpiece of UM’s 2026 Homecoming celebration. For residents of Coral Gables, it is also the part of the week most likely to be seen, heard or encountered in the traffic around campus.
The university’s Alumni Weekend and Homecoming festivities continue through Saturday, Nov. 14, with more than 2,000 graduates expected to return for reunions, student celebrations and a football game against Duke. Friday’s boat burning marks the 70th anniversary of a tradition that has endured through generations of Hurricanes.
This year brings one significant change: Although the boat will still burn on Lake Osceola, the fireworks will launch from the university’s intramural fields rather than from the lake. The gathering and viewing areas remain around the water.
The Hurricane Howl block party begins at 5 p.m. Friday, with food, entertainment and student activities. The boat-burning ceremony and fireworks are scheduled from 8:30 to 10 p.m.
A tradition that began in 1931
The University of Miami held its first Homecoming in 1931, just five years after opening its doors. The celebration included receptions, fraternity gatherings, an alumni dance and a football game against Erskine College.
Over the decades, the observance grew into a week of student competitions, concerts and reunions. Its most recognizable ritual, the boat burning, began in 1956.
The custom carries a superstition familiar to generations of Hurricanes: If the boat’s mast falls before the vessel sinks, Miami is supposed to win its Homecoming football game the following day.
The ceremony’s setting gives the tradition much of its character. Lake Osceola occupies the center of the Coral Gables campus, surrounded by academic buildings, student gathering places and walkways that fill with spectators for the annual celebration.
For this year’s 70th anniversary, the university has adjusted the fireworks arrangements.
As The Miami Hurricane reported, the display will move to the intramural fields for the first time since 2011. University officials cited spectator safety and the opportunity to use fireworks that could not be launched from the lake.
The change follows concerns about sparks and injuries reported by students during previous Homecoming displays. Raul Valdes, chair of the student Homecoming Executive Committee, told the campus newspaper that spectators would continue to watch from around Lake Osceola.
The boat burning itself remains where generations of alumni remember it.
Alumni return to a changing campus
The weekend extends well beyond Friday’s spectacle.
According to university Homecoming materials, more than 2,000 alumni are expected for over 30 events, including class reunions, school and college gatherings, campus visits and affinity celebrations.
More than 1,100 graduates have registered for Friday’s Canes Lounge, the weekend’s largest alumni gathering, according to UM.
Darren Dupriest, president of the University of Miami Alumni Association, graduated in 1991 and has attended more than 36 Homecomings. He has watched former classmates return with spouses and children, revisit familiar gathering places and encounter a university that continues to change.
“The campus has transformed,” Dupriest said in the university’s Homecoming coverage. “Yet one thing endures: everyone who has called our unique haven in Coral Gables home carries a connection that lasts well beyond graduation.”
The weekend includes reunions organized by individual schools and alumni groups. The Black Alumni Society will host gatherings at the Rathskeller and Whitten University Center before a Saturday tailgate at Hard Rock Stadium. The School of Architecture has scheduled a Friday evening barbecue, and the business school will welcome graduates to Cesarano Plaza.
For many alumni, such gatherings are as important as the football game or fireworks. They offer a chance to return to the campus where friendships began, careers took shape and families sometimes first met.
Candice Johnson Pollowitz remembers encountering that atmosphere before she even enrolled.
She visited UM as a high school student during Homecoming weekend and was struck by the celebration.
“I was like, ‘I want to be here. I want to do that,’” she told UM News.
She subsequently earned a bachelor’s degree in public health in 2016. Today, she leads the university’s Young Alumni Leaders Council, which connects graduates from the past decade with the institution.
The council will recognize this year’s 30 Under 30 honorees during Friday’s celebration.
“You don’t have to wait until you have money to donate to get involved,” Johnson Pollowitz said. “There is something out there for everyone.”
Students flip the script
While alumni return to familiar traditions, this year’s student organizers have been revising them.
The 2026 theme, “Flip the Script,” draws on the language of movies and reflects changes to the Homecoming program. The student-run Homecoming Executive Committee chose the theme after several weeks of discussion and voting.
“The Miami Hurricanes, we’re trendsetters. We’re not followers,” Valdes said. “With so many changes that we’re making, we just wanted to do a little ode to that. We’re flipping the script, but Homecoming is still what it is.”
The changes include eliminating the cumulative competition that once required student organizations to participate throughout the week to remain competitive. Organizations can now choose individual events, with awards determined separately.
The committee also replaced the Organized Cheer competition with Canes Showdown, a broader talent program featuring dance, music and other performances.
Vice chair Trisha Sakamuri, a junior studying public health and sports medicine, said participation in the revamped competition had roughly tripled.
“We actually saw that participation basically tripled this year, so it’s been a super cool change for us,” she said.
Another addition, Canes Spirit Day, takes place Thursday at the University Center Rock Plaza. The event brings student organizations together for activities intended to involve more of the campus community.
Vice chair Julia Rocha, a senior from Brazil studying marketing and legal studies, said the student-centered approach is deliberate.
“It really is about the Canes and the students,” she said.
For fellow vice chair Hedy Portillo, a senior majoring in neuroscience, the theme also speaks to the experience of students who are the first in their families to attend UM.
“I’m the first person in my family to come to the University of Miami, and it’s scary to do all those things, but you have to be the first one to put that step out,” she said.
The committee has been planning the festivities since January, coordinating with university departments responsible for student activities, facilities and alumni engagement.
Music, service and Saturday football
The week began Monday with the Homecoming kickoff and royalty pageant.
Wednesday’s activities include Hurricanes Help the Hometown, a student community-service initiative, and an 8 p.m. concert at the Watsco Center featuring rapper NLE Choppa, with the student band Eckhart opening.
Thursday brings Canes Spirit Day, alumni receptions and the university’s Alumni Awards celebration.
Friday’s schedule expands across the campus with reunions, school gatherings and the Hurricane Howl block party before the boat burning and fireworks.
The weekend culminates Saturday when the Miami Hurricanes face the Duke Blue Devils at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Kickoff is at noon, and ABC will televise the game.
The football matchup also provides another opportunity for alumni to gather away from campus, where tailgates and organized reunions will continue before kickoff.
What residents and visitors should know
For Coral Gables residents, Friday evening will bring the most visible Homecoming activity.
The block party begins at 5 p.m. around the university’s central gathering areas. The boat-burning ceremony and fireworks are scheduled between 8:30 and 10 p.m. at Lake Osceola, with fireworks launched from the nearby intramural fields.
The university’s event listing welcomes members of the local community. Alumni gatherings, however, may require advance registration or tickets.
Residents traveling near campus should anticipate heavier traffic and greater demand for parking Friday evening, particularly around Ponce de Leon Boulevard, San Amaro Drive and the university’s principal entrances. Fireworks noise may also be audible in surrounding neighborhoods. Specific street closures have not been announced in the event listings reviewed by the Gazette.
Alumni can find registration information and individual event schedules through the University of Miami Alumni Association. The university’s events calendar provides details about activities throughout the weekend.
Last year’s celebration marked the university’s centennial, bringing special attention to its history and traditions, as the Gazette reported.
This year, the focus returns to a familiar rhythm: students celebrating the university they attend, graduates revisiting the place they once called home, and a Friday-night ritual that has become part of the Coral Gables calendar.
For a few hours, the lake at the heart of the campus will again become the gathering place for generations of Hurricanes.
Author: Coral Gables Gazette News Staff
Originally established in 1996 and relaunched as a digital publication in February 2025, the Coral Gables Gazette is an independent local news organization dedicated to factual, objective and accountable community journalism. Our newsroom reports on the people, policies, institutions and events shaping Coral Gables, Florida, providing residents with timely, informative coverage of the issues affecting their community. Our reporting includes City Hall, local government, municipal elections, public spending, real estate development, business, education, arts and culture, and neighborhood affairs throughout the City Beautiful. We follow City Commission decisions, examine public records and report on the businesses, organizations and individuals contributing to Coral Gables. We believe informed residents are essential to a healthy, engaged community. Stories published under the Coral Gables Gazette News Staff byline are prepared or compiled by the publication's editorial team. We strive for accuracy, fairness, transparency and clear distinctions between news reporting, opinion and advertising. Readers are encouraged to submit news tips, corrections, editorial inquiries and story suggestions through our Contact page and learn more about our standards through our Editorial Policy.
