Continuing a long tradition, the Torchlight Parade, which leads into the bonfire, is Oct. 17 at 9 p.m behind Killingsworth Hall.

“That’s something I hope never dies,” Roland Hannah, junior in business management said. “[The] tradition carries a lot of weight, and without it Homecoming wouldn’t be the same.”

The Torchlight Parade has been around since the 1980s and made its way to become a precursor to the bonfire in 1988. This year it will continue the tradition with incoming freshmen, returning students and transfers participating.

“I’ve never been so excited,” Fred Carter, junior in business information systems, said. “It sounds like fun and I’ve never heard of anything like this before. It’s seems unique.”

The Torchlight Parade holds the highest student attendance every year. Those who attend receive a torch lit on fire and march to the Nocona Trail parking lot behind the football practice field.

“It’s the most exciting parade because [the students] all get to be fired up for the game,” Sue Witherspoon, administrative assistant for student development and orientation, said.

After the parade, the bonfire starts and students get to watch shirts from other schools get set on fire. This all leads into a pep rally where everyone can meet all of the different teams and the three finalists of the Wild West Show Homecoming Lip-Sync Competition. At last year’s parade, students stayed out at the bonfire even after the shirts were ashes.

“It’s a long tradition,”  Witherspoon said.