Rutgers Day 2026 Will Be April 25: Tour Campus, Free Fun For The Whole Family

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Rutgers Day is always a popular event in New Jersey. Every year this "open house" of the Rutgers main campus in New Brunswick, plus Busch and Cook/Douglass campuses nearby, draws tens of thousands of people.

Rutgers Day 2026 will be April 25 this year. The university’s free, flagship event will have more than 500 programs and activities. Free and open to the public, the university’s largest annual open house will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 25.

“Rutgers Day is a day for people to experience what Rutgers has to offer in a welcoming environment,” said Patricia Kastner, senior director of strategic events and programs for Rutgers Communications and Marketing (R-Comm). “It's designed for everyone — faculty, staff, students, alumni, parents, prospective students and community members.”

"There's a little bit of everything for everyone of all ages," she added.

The festivities kick off with a parade down College Avenue. Members of the Rutgers marching band, the Marching Scarlet Knights, will strut their stuff with a parade that starts at 10:30 a.m. along Seminary Place. Marching band representatives also will host a table on Voorhees Mall featuring drums for visitors to pound.

Meet spring's barnyard animal babies on the Cook/Douglass campus at Ag Field Day: Piglets, lambs and kids (baby goats, not human kids) will be on hand for visitors young and old to meet in the Round House at the Cook campus farm, 65 Sheepfold Lane, New Brunswick. Presented by the Rutgers Veterinary Science Club.

Also on the Cook/Douglass campus that day, adults and children can learn about the university’s environmental and agriculture-related programs and meet farm animals raised by students. Ag Field Day features:

• Student exhibitions of cattle, goats, horses, pigs and sheep
• Arts and crafts
• Plant and flower sales
• Student club activities

Check out the Rutgers Health Village on the Busch campus:

• Children may don surgical gowns (and hats and masks), grab some surgical tools and perform surgery on Jell-O brains alongside actual Rutgers neurosurgeons
• See a surgical robot in action
• Get emergency preparedness tips
• Test your health and medical knowledge with trivia games

A popular attraction (and photo opportunity) of the Health Village is a giant, inflatable colon that people can walk through.

Get creative at the Zimmerli Art Museum (College Avenue campus) – Children and families are welcome at the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, 71 Hamilton St., New Brunswick. Stop by for activities throughout the day, including a scavenger hunt and a drop-in art workshop. Galleries are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Get in the Zone, the Engineering Zone (Busch campus) – Students, staff and faculty from the Rutgers School of Engineering have planned:

Students from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering will show visitors how to sculpt polymer clay erasers as well as share ice cream made using liquid nitrogen.

Members of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering also are hosting a hot glass demonstration, showing how molten rock turns to shimmering glass.

Visitors may build a miniature catapult using rubber bands, plastic spoons and popsicle sticks to launch aluminum foil balls into a bucket.

Make Stuff at the Makerspace Place (Busch) – Rutgers Makerspace, features do-it-yourself equipment for Rutgers students, staff and faculty. Try your hand at welding with a virtual welding simulator and make a pinback button with a button maker at the Makerspace tent at the back of the Busch Student Center.

Dorm Rooms and Fire Safety (Cook/Douglass) – Witness a side-by-side “dorm room” fire demonstration (one room has fire sprinklers; the other doesn’t) at 2 p.m. conducted by Rutgers Emergency Services, New Jersey Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board and Fire Sprinkler Union Local 696.

Know Your Limits (Cook/Douglass) – Take the wheel of a golf cart while wearing “Fatal Vision Goggles” to see how your perception changes under the influence of alcohol and then take a “walk and turn” field sobriety test. Presented by the Center for Communication and Health Issues, the student-led alcohol safety campaign RU SURE, the Rutgers Recovery House and the Rutgers University Police Department.

Snap Selfies at the R Garden (College Avenue) – This Rutgers Day staple – and a fun photo opportunity – is an art installation comprised of large, wooden Rutgers “R” sculptures decorated by members of schools and other university groups to highlight their mission, spirit and impact. Children may color and decorate their own paper Rs to take home.

Get Fast and Furious: F1 Edition (Busch) – Experience innovation in motion with Rutgers Formula Racing as members of this student-run organization reveal their electric-powered Formula SAE race car. Watch live driving demonstrations as drivers push the fully electric machine through tight corners and tear through straightaways.

Catch the Seeing Eye Dog Show (Cook/Douglass) – Meet puppies in training to become guide dogs and observe their demonstration of skills. Presented by the Seeing Eye Puppy Raising Club of Rutgers University, which raises puppies for The Seeing Eye Inc., a Morristown, NJ-based national nonprofit group.

Cheer on Rutgers Athletics (College Avenue) – This tent, filled with school spirit, features appearances from student-athletes (who will sign autographs) as well as giveaways and an opportunity to snap photos with Sir Henry, the official mascot of the Scarlet Knights.

This year also happens to be the 50th anniversary of the Mason Gross School of the Arts. Held at Bettenbender Plaza (in front of the Nicholas Music Center), 85 George Street in New Brunswick, Mason Gross activities include:

• Rehearsals by singers and instrumentalists
• Student recitals
• A Latin social dance workshop at noon
• Art activities for children
• An interactive drawing station
• Tables staffed by members of the school promoting summer and online programs

A visual art exhibition in gallery space at 33 Livingston Ave. and a history of the theater department timeline exhibit at the Mabel Smith Douglass Library, 8 Chapel Drive

Sink Your Fangs Into a Marathon Reading (College Avenue) – Take to the stage on Voorhees Mall to read passages from Bram Stoker's “Dracula.” Presented by the Department of English and the Writer’s House. Participants receive a free copy of the book and may make their own imprints using the Scarlet Letterpress.

Prospective students and their parents

Thinking about going to Rutgers? Rutgers Day is a fantastic way for prospective students and their families to experience what the university has to offer.

Scope out majors, clubs and professors as staff and students from various school departments will be on hand at Voorhees Mall (College Avenue) to highlight their programs. Members of honor societies, student clubs and other groups will be there, too (including representatives from the Air Force, Army and Navy ROTC units). Student clubs will also be at Cook/Douglass and Busch campuses, too.

Rutgers is ranked among the to 60 universities in the world. It is part of the Big Ten athletic conference.