AMHERST — Performances by local and student bands, an art walk at campus galleries and a cookout prepared by UMass Dining will be part of Founders Day 2026 on the University of Massachusetts campus Wednesday.
The daylong event that begins at 9 a.m., with more than 30 free activities across 18 campus locations, marks the April 29, 1863 signing of the charter that led to the creation of Massachusetts Agricultural College by Massachusetts Gov. John Andrew.
Celebrated since 2010, the day includes tours and open houses to inside looks at laboratories, collections, gardens and galleries.
This year, for the first time, activities are organized under six tracks: Art and Music; The Living Campus; Innovation Showcase; Campus as a Museum; Care and Community; and Spirit and Tradition.
The art walk, for instance, takes people through the Hampden and Augusta Savage galleries and the University Museum of Contemporary Art. The UMass Jazz Ensemble and the Graduate Brass Quintet will perform in the W.E.B. Du Bois Library courtyard, while others will perform in the area of the Fine Arts Center.
The campus cookout will feature a healthy and sustainable meal with locally sourced items, with food served on the Haigis Mall from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will also be lawn games, spirit stations, photo booths, information tables and more set up on the greenspace.
Attendees can also meet the robot dogs and humanoids developed by UMass Robotics at the plaza for the Bromery Center for the Arts, take tours of the Institute for Applied Life Sciences in the Life Science Laboratories on Thatcher Road, and visit the more than 8,000 actively managed, 350-plus species of trees, as well as shrubs and gardens, throughout campus that comprise the Waugh Arboretum.
Among the tours are one of the W.E.B. DuBois Library at 11 a.m., led by Outreach Archivist Caroline White and Senior Campus Planner and Architect Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham. That tour is sponsored by the UMass Amherst Libraries and UMassBRUT, the grassroots UMass system’s modernist buildings advocacy group.
At 3 p.m., the campus challenge course, called The Nest and across from the Orchard Hill Residence Halls, will be open to those who have pre-registered, with a sky park, zip lines, and high and low team-based elements. Some spots may open up on Founders Day.
People can use UMass Transit campus shuttles for Routes 34 and 35 to access the events beyond the center of campus. Visitors can also park on campus in Lot 34 located on Massachusetts Avenue or in the parking garage at 91 Campus Center Way. and campus fire pits at 4 p.m. through 89, near the Campus Pond.
Go to https://www.umass.edu/founders-day for more information.
