The University of Arizona welcomes students and their families this weekend for a Family Weekend full of interactive activities and events.

Family Weekend is Oct. 9-11, and this year’s theme is “It’s a Wildcat World!”

Lauren Maxwell, the executive director of Family Weekend, said they try to make Family Weekend and its many events as inclusive as possible for the whole family.

“We try and have events that involve everyone, including the children, because that was a big issue in the past,” Maxwell said. “People would bring kids and not be able to attend events because they weren’t kid-friendly.”

Maxwell said that Family Weekend has developed more family fun events like Casino Night for all ages to participate in.

Maxwell said there are around 500 families attending, and that they expect even more to register on-site.

Edesa Pimentel, a pre-nursing sophomore, said she’s excited for her family to visit from Phoenix and to celebrate her Mom’s birthday, Wildcat style.

Pimentel said her parents visit often but haven’t been here for Family Weekend before, so she’s excited for all that UA is offering.

“We’ve had more people in the last two years than before because we’ve kind of revamped it and put more money and work into it,” Maxwell said.

Maxwell said they have families traveling from all over the country and that even though locals come, this weekend is usually more for out-of-state students because their families typically haven’t seen them for a while.

Jackson Kavrell, a pre-business freshman said he’s excited for his family to visit from Davis, California.

“I’m excited to see my parents because I’m homesick,” Kavrell said. “I haven’t seen them since school started. We’ve [Skyped] and everything, but it is nowhere near the same as physically being there.”

Kavrell said he’s excited to show his parents his favorite places to eat, have them get to know his roommate more and show them where his classes are around campus. He’s also eager to attend family weekend events like the football game and a Sunday brunch for the Honors College.

Maxwell said that Family Weekend is only hosting a handful events, but other organizations, departments and colleges will also host many events and activities for families to attend.

“We wanted to have it be an event that everyone would enjoy and not just something people felt they had to go to because their student is a freshman,” Maxwell said.

According to Maxwell, Family Weekend is important because it’s not only one of the largest events on campus, but it’s one of the few events of its type at the UA that is geared not just for students, but their families as well.

Families can register on-site at the Family Weekend tent Friday and Saturday. For more information, visit familyweekend.arizona.edu.

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