# Emory University Family Weekend, October 22 to 25, 2026: two campus walls and the weekend's light to photograph on campus and in Druid Hills and Decatur > Emory University Family Weekend, October 22 to 25, 2026: the two campus walls that line up with the low evening sun, the sunrise and sunset beside each listed event, what to see in Emory Village, Druid Hills and Decatur between events, and where to stand for the family picture. This is the Markdown form of https://hengedays.com/articles/buildings-to-photograph-emory-family-weekend-2026, with the same words as the page. Part of [Family Weekends 2026](https://hengedays.com/articles/family-weekends-2026), school 6 of 26. Previous school: [Appalachian State University](https://hengedays.com/articles/buildings-to-photograph-appalachian-state-family-weekend-2026). Next school: [Harvard University](https://hengedays.com/articles/buildings-to-photograph-harvard-family-weekend-2026). *Dobbs Hall on Asbury Circle in Henge Days, entry 1 in the list and the family photo spot. Pink marks the west wall that the evening sun lines up with on Family Weekend. North is up.* For October 22 to 25, 2026. Emory University's Homecoming and Family Weekend runs from Thursday, October 22, to Sunday, October 25, 2026, on the Atlanta campus. Henge Days checked the buildings on the campus, in Emory Village, in Druid Hills and in Decatur for walls that the low morning or evening sun lands on square this weekend. Two campus walls passed every check, both for the evening. This guide fits them around the weekend's schedule, with a spot for the family picture and the days the landmarks line up. Post yours with #HengeDays. In this article - [The weekend's schedule and the light](#the-weekend-s-schedule-and-the-light) - [Part 1: the Emory campus](#part-1-the-emory-campus) - [Part 2: Emory Village, Druid Hills and Decatur](#part-2-emory-village-druid-hills-and-decatur) - [When the landmarks line up](#when-the-landmarks-line-up) - [How the list was made](#how-the-list-was-made) - [How to read each entry](#how-to-read-each-entry) For a level horizon, the sun rises at Emory at 7:47 to 7:50 AM and sets at 6:55 to 6:51 PM, Thursday to Sunday, Eastern Daylight Time. It rises at 103 to 104 degrees and sets at 256 to 257 degrees. Both walls are golden-day walls, with the sun 2 to 6 degrees up at their moment. ### The weekend's schedule and the light The events below are the ones the Homecoming and Family Weekend site, the Emory News Center and the Emory Alumni Association listed in search results on October 17. Emory's own pages could not be opened from where this guide was written, so the list comes from those search summaries, and a time appears only where a listing gave one. Check times and places at [together.emory.edu/homecoming](https://together.emory.edu/homecoming) before you plan around them. Oxford College, Emory's campus in Oxford, Georgia, holds its own Family Weekend from October 23 to 25. This guide covers the Atlanta campus. All times are Eastern Daylight Time. - Thursday, October 22: the weekend opens. The search results listed no Atlanta campus event with a time. Sunrise is at 7:47 AM and sunset at 6:55 PM. No wall on the campus lines up with the sunrise with a clear view this weekend. - Friday, October 23, between events: Emory Village at the campus gate, the Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Druid Hills and the Decatur Square. Part 2 has the details. - Friday, October 23, 7:30 to 10:30 PM: the Alumni Reunions and Kickoff Party on the Quad, with food, drinks and dancing, for adults. Sunset is at 6:53 PM. Before it, the Residential Services Building on the Clairmont Campus lines up at 6:21 PM (entry 2). Dobbs Hall lines up at 6:14 PM (entry 1), about 250 m north of the Quad, with the sun 7.2 degrees up, a little above golden light. - Saturday, October 24, noon to 4:30 PM: the Homecoming Food and Music Festival on the Quad, with Neon Trees listed as the headliner. The Emory Alumni Association listing gives 11:30 AM to 4:00 PM, so check the end time. - Saturday, October 24, 1:00 PM: the Homecoming Parade. The Homecoming site gives about 1:15 PM and names the Quad as the best place to watch. - Saturday, October 24: a 5K, an Emory basketball event and campus tours are also listed. The search results gave no times for them. - Saturday, October 24, after the festival: Dobbs Hall at 6:16 PM, with the sun 6.6 degrees up, or the Residential Services Building at 6:23 PM. Sunset is at 6:52 PM. - Sunday, October 25: the search results listed no event. Dobbs Hall has its golden day at 6:17 PM, the family photo spot below, and the Residential Services Building lines up at 6:25 PM. Sunset is at 6:51 PM. ### Part 1: the Emory campus Two walls, both for the evening: Dobbs Hall, north of the Quad near the Emory Student Center, and the Residential Services Building on the Clairmont Campus, about 1.5 km northeast. The buildings around the Quadrangle face 54, 144, 234 and 324 degrees, and the sun never rises or sets at those bearings in Atlanta. Many of the campus walls that do face the low sun stand behind a neighbor, and the campus has tall trees on every side, which the check does not see. #### 1 Dobbs Hall Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia Wall west-southwest, facing 251° Sun The low evening sun lines up with this wall on Oct 25. Best: Sunday, October 25 at 6:17 PM, 6.0° above the horizon. Leaves FOX 5 Atlanta's Leaf Watch reported color starting in the North Georgia mountains in mid-October ([FOX 5 Atlanta](https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/leaf-watch-2026-fall-color-starts-pop-north-georgia)). Hoodline expected the color to reach metro Atlanta in early to mid-November ([Hoodline](https://hoodline.com/2026/10/north-georgia-s-fall-leaf-season-kicks-off-with-a-mountain-to-valley-color-rush/)), so most campus trees are likely to be green on Family Weekend. Where to stand The wall is the long west side of the hall, 38 m, with two short end sections beside it, 43 m in all. The hall's two wings open to the east, away from this wall. Stand on the lawn west-southwest of the wall, on the footpaths that cross it, with the sun behind you. Stay off Dickey Drive, south of the hall. The sun lines up with the wall on Sunday at 6:17 PM, 6.0 degrees up. This is a golden day: at the head-on moment the sun is 2 to 6 degrees up. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday it lines up at 6:12, 6:14 and 6:16 PM, 7.8, 7.2 and 6.6 degrees up, a little above golden light. No building in the outlines rises toward the sun from in front of the wall. Computed from the building outline and the sun's position for a level horizon, and not checked on the ground. Trees and the rolling ground around the campus can take the light before these times. Clear view Clear. No building in the map data rises above the sun (6.0° up) in its direction. Emory's oldest residence hall, at 586 Asbury Circle. It was completed in 1917 and named for Samuel Candler Dobbs, an alumnus and benefactor of the university ([Emory Campus Life](https://campuslife.emory.edu/news/news/2017/20170926-2_dobbs-hall_the_old-man_is-100_and_still_serving_emory_students.html)). Most of its residents are first-year students ([Emory Housing](https://housing.emory.edu/housing-options/residence-halls/dobbs.html)). The Emory Student Center is about 100 m north, and the Quad is about 250 m south. *The building page in Henge Days. The highlighted walls face 251°, toward the sunset on the days in the row below; every wall carries its bearing.* - **Sun, Oct 25 to Fri, Nov 6, 2026**13 evenings · best Fri, Nov 6 **5:39 PM** Golden sunset, sun 0° up WSW 251° wall Its row in the Henge days list, with the time of the head-on moment on the best day. Save keeps that day in your planner, which can send it to your calendar app. Saving asks you to sign in with an email link; there is no password. *The year for every wall of the building. Each row is a wall; the colored runs are its henge, golden and low-sun days.* [Open this wall in Henge Days](https://hengedays.com/at/33.79288,-84.32463?q=Dobbs+Hall%2C+Atlanta%2C+GA&b=osm%2Frelation%2F1629347&facade=0&d=2026-10-25) Family photo spot. Stand the family on the lawn a few steps out from Dobbs Hall's west wall, turned partway toward the camera. The photographer stands west-southwest of them, with the sun low behind and to one side, which lights faces and the wall behind them in the same warm light. Go on Sunday at 6:17 PM, the wall's golden day. On Friday at 6:14 PM and Saturday at 6:16 PM the sun stands square to the wall a little higher. Friday's time leaves more than an hour before the 7:30 PM party on the Quad. Post it with #HengeDays. Computed from the building outline and the sun's position for a level horizon, and not checked on the ground. Trees west of the hall can take the sun before these times, so be there well ahead of them. #### 2 Residential Services Building Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia Wall west-southwest, facing 252° Sun The low evening sun lines up with this wall on Oct 23 to 25. Best: Sunday, October 25 at 6:25 PM, 4.6° above the horizon. Leaves FOX 5 Atlanta's Leaf Watch reported color starting in the North Georgia mountains in mid-October ([FOX 5 Atlanta](https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/leaf-watch-2026-fall-color-starts-pop-north-georgia)). Hoodline expected the color to reach metro Atlanta in early to mid-November ([Hoodline](https://hoodline.com/2026/10/north-georgia-s-fall-leaf-season-kicks-off-with-a-mountain-to-valley-color-rush/)), so most campus trees are likely to be green on Family Weekend. Where to stand The wall is the long west side of the building, 38 m. Stand on the lawn west-southwest of the wall, between the building and the Lake Loop Trail and Hill Loop Trail footpaths, with the sun behind you. Stay off Dooley Drive, southeast of the building. This is a working building, so stay outside. The sun lines up with the wall at 6:21 PM on Friday, 6:23 PM on Saturday and 6:25 PM on Sunday, 5.7, 5.1 and 4.6 degrees up. These are golden days: at the head-on moment the sun is 2 to 6 degrees up. On Thursday at 6:20 PM the sun is 6.3 degrees up, a little above golden light. No building in the outlines rises toward the sun from in front of the wall. Computed from the building outline and the sun's position for a level horizon, and not checked on the ground. The trees of Lullwater Preserve stand west of the building, toward the sun, and can take the light before these times. Clear view Clear. No building in the map data rises above the sun (4.6° up) in its direction. A university service building on the Clairmont Campus, Emory's residential campus off Clairmont Road, about 1.5 km northeast of the Quad. The Clairmont Residential Center and the Undergraduate Residential Center stand nearby ([Emory Housing](https://housing.emory.edu/housing-options/residence-halls/crc.html), [Emory Housing](https://housing.emory.edu/housing-options/residence-halls/urc.html)). Emory's Clairmont Campus map lists it as building 3360 ([Emory campus map](https://map.emory.edu/mappdf/gis_map/Clairmont.pdf)). Lullwater Preserve, the wooded estate with trails and a lake on the campus, starts about 300 m west. *The building page in Henge Days. The highlighted walls face 252°, toward the sunset on the days in the row below; every wall carries its bearing.* - **Fri, Oct 23 to Tue, Nov 3, 2026**12 evenings · best Tue, Nov 3 **5:41 PM** Golden sunset, sun 0° up WSW 252° wall Its row in the Henge days list, with the time of the head-on moment on the best day. Save keeps that day in your planner, which can send it to your calendar app. Saving asks you to sign in with an email link; there is no password. *The year for every wall of the building. Each row is a wall; the colored runs are its henge, golden and low-sun days.* [Open this wall in Henge Days](https://hengedays.com/at/33.79866,-84.31056?q=Residential+Services+Building%2C+Atlanta%2C+GA&b=osm%2Fway%2F239890976&facade=0&d=2026-10-23) ### Part 2: Emory Village, Druid Hills and Decatur No wall in Emory Village, Druid Hills or Decatur passed the check this weekend. These are the places to go between events, with the light for each. - Emory Village is the cluster of shops and restaurants at the campus gate, where Oxford Road meets North Decatur Road, beside Glenn Memorial Church. It is a short walk south of the Quad, between Friday's day on campus and the evening party, or before Saturday's festival. - The Fernbank Museum of Natural History stands at 767 Clifton Road, about 2 km south of the Quad. Its site lists it as open daily from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with Fernbank Forest closing at 4:30 PM ([Fernbank Museum](https://fernbankmuseum.org/visit/plan-your-visit/)). A short east wall of the museum, 9 m, faces the sunrise this weekend, and another building stands in front of it in the outlines. - Druid Hills is the neighborhood around the campus, laid out by the Olmsted firm. Ponce de Leon Avenue runs through it, with the Olmsted Linear Park, a chain of parks, beside it. Druid Hills Baptist Church stands at Ponce de Leon Avenue and Highland Avenue. Its walls face east and west, and the sun lines up with them in March. - The Decatur Square is about 3 km southeast of the Quad, around the old DeKalb County Courthouse, with the shops and restaurants of downtown Decatur on every side. The square's walls face the four compass points, so the sun lines up with them in March and September. - Lullwater Preserve, on the north side of the campus, has trails around a lake and the Lullwater House, the president's residence. Listings disagree on its hours, so plan to leave by dusk. ### When the landmarks line up The buildings a family asks about first do not face this weekend's low sun. Their next days, from the same engine, for each wall's bearing and a level horizon, with no check for the buildings and trees in front: - [Michael C. Carlos Museum](https://hengedays.com/at/33.79045,-84.32417?q=Michael+C.+Carlos+Museum%2C+571+South+Kilgo+Circle%2C+Atlanta%2C+GA&b=osm%2Fway%2F51284602), on the Quad: the southwest wall, 35 m facing 235 degrees, gets golden evening light from December 12 to 30, 2026. It is the one Quad wall the engine gives a golden day in the coming year. Candler Library and the Administration Building face 234 and 54 degrees and get none. - [Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church](https://hengedays.com/at/33.78867,-84.32417?q=Glenn+Memorial+United+Methodist+Church%2C+1652+North+Decatur+Road%2C+Atlanta%2C+GA&b=osm%2Fway%2F51294626), 1652 North Decatur Road: the west-southwest wall, 26 m facing 258 degrees, lines up with the sunset at the horizon from February 21 to 23, 2027. The east-northeast wall lines up with the sunrise at the horizon from April 15 to 17, 2027. - [Emory Student Center](https://hengedays.com/at/33.79365,-84.32397?q=Emory+Student+Center%2C+Asbury+Circle%2C+Atlanta%2C+GA&b=osm%2Fway%2F761840928), on Asbury Circle: the west-southwest wall, 43 m facing 259 degrees, lines up with the sunset at the horizon from February 23 to 25, 2027. - [Woodruff Physical Education Center](https://hengedays.com/at/33.79329,-84.32598?q=Woodruff+Physical+Education+Center%2C+26+Eagle+Row%2C+Atlanta%2C+GA&b=osm%2Fway%2F42614607), 26 Eagle Row: the west wall, 88 m facing 270 degrees, lines up with the sunset at the horizon from March 18 to 20, 2027, and the east wall with the sunrise from March 21 to 22, 2027. - [Lullwater House](https://hengedays.com/at/33.80066,-84.31569?q=Lullwater+House%2C+Atlanta%2C+GA&b=osm%2Fway%2F210682767), in Lullwater Preserve: the east-northeast wall, 43 m facing 60 degrees, lines up with the sunrise at the horizon from June 11 to July 2, 2027. - [Fernbank Museum of Natural History](https://hengedays.com/at/33.77392,-84.32773?q=Fernbank+Museum+of+Natural+History%2C+767+Clifton+Road%2C+Atlanta%2C+GA&b=osm%2Fway%2F28912748), 767 Clifton Road: an east wall, 17 m facing 101 degrees, lines up with the sunrise at the horizon from February 24 to 26, 2027. - [Druid Hills Baptist Church](https://hengedays.com/at/33.77339,-84.35203?q=Druid+Hills+Baptist+Church%2C+1085+Ponce+de+Leon+Avenue%2C+Atlanta%2C+GA&b=osm%2Frelation%2F7309873), 1085 Ponce de Leon Avenue: the east wall, 36 m facing 89 degrees, lines up with the sunrise at the horizon from March 20 to 22, 2027, and the west wall with the sunset from March 21 to 23, 2027. - [The old DeKalb County Courthouse](https://hengedays.com/at/33.77512,-84.29651?q=Decatur+History+Center%2C+East+Court+Square%2C+Decatur%2C+GA&b=osm%2Fway%2F25559294), on the Decatur Square, listed in OpenStreetMap as the Decatur History Center: the west wall, 24 m facing 270 degrees, lines up with the sunset at the horizon from March 19 to 21, 2027, and the east wall with the sunrise from March 20 to 22, 2027. ### How the list was made Henge Days computed every building outline within 250 to 400 meters of 18 points, 2,105 outlines from OpenStreetMap. On the campus, the points were the Quadrangle, Glenn Memorial and Emory Village, the Emory Student Center and McDonough Field, the Goizueta Business School and Emory University Hospital, the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, Lullwater Preserve, the Woodruff Physical Education Center and Peavine, and the Clairmont Campus. Beyond it, they were Emory Point, the Fernbank Museum, Springdale Park on Ponce de Leon Avenue, Ponce de Leon Avenue at Lullwater Road, Druid Hills Baptist Church, Callanwolde, the Decatur Square, east Decatur, and Agnes Scott College with a second point east of it. Henge Days kept the walls where the sun lines up with the wall within 6 degrees of the horizon on at least one day from Thursday, October 22, to Sunday, October 25. It then traced the sun's path from each wall against every outline it had fetched, and dropped the walls where a building stands higher than the sun. The scout found 27 walls that face the low sun this weekend, and two passed every check. The buildings of the Quadrangle, Cox Hall, the Woodruff Library and the Candler School of Theology face about 54, 144, 234 and 324 degrees, far from this weekend's 103 and 257. The west-southwest wall of the Goizueta Business School lines up with the sunset at the horizon from Friday to Sunday, but the Goizueta Foundation Building, joined to it, stands in front. The Sorority Village halls on Eagle Row and the long east wall of the Woodruff Physical Activities Building at Agnes Scott College in Decatur stand behind their neighbors. The east wall of the Druid Hills Golf Club clubhouse has a clear view in the outlines, but the ground in front of it belongs to the private club, so it is left out. The Schwartz Center for Performing Arts, the parking decks and the hospital buildings that line up stand behind taller neighbors. In seven of the areas, the search returned its limit of 200 outlines, so a wall or a blocking building there can be missing. Those are the Druid Hills points on Ponce de Leon Avenue, Callanwolde, the Decatur Square, east Decatur and Agnes Scott College. Both picks are golden days, with the sun 2 to 6 degrees up, and each entry says so. Hills and trees are not part of that check, and the times assume a level horizon. Atlanta's ground rolls, and tall oaks and pines stand across the campus and Druid Hills, so the trees can take the light from a wall before its moment. Most neighboring buildings carry no height in OpenStreetMap, and the check assumed about three stories for them. Every date and time comes from the Henge Days engine for the wall's own bearing, in Eastern time. ### How to read each entry Each entry shows the building as Henge Days shows it. The map marks the building's outline from OpenStreetMap, gives every wall its compass bearing, and highlights the wall that lines up with the sun. Below it are the wall's row from the building's Henge days list, with a Save button that keeps the best day in your planner, and a year of head-on days for every wall. The Clear view line is the result of the check for other buildings on the best day. Any building has a page like the ones above, your student's hall included. Whatever you shoot, post it with #HengeDays: [Look up a building](https://hengedays.com/) [Open your planner](https://hengedays.com/planner) ### Sources - [Emory University: Homecoming and Family Weekend, October 22 to 25, 2026](https://together.emory.edu/homecoming) - [Emory News Center: Get your kicks at Emory Homecoming 2026](https://news.emory.edu/stories/2026/10/get-your-kicks-emory-homecoming-2026) - [Emory Alumni Association: Emory Homecoming Food and Music Festival](https://thehub.emory.edu/AdvancementandAlumniEngagement/rsvp_boot?id=390171) - [Oxford College of Emory University: Family Weekend 2026](https://oxford.emory.edu/parents/family-weekend.html) - [Emory Campus Life: Dobbs Hall, the "Old Man", is 100 and still serving Emory students](https://campuslife.emory.edu/news/news/2017/20170926-2_dobbs-hall_the_old-man_is-100_and_still_serving_emory_students.html) - [Emory Housing: Dobbs Hall](https://housing.emory.edu/housing-options/residence-halls/dobbs.html) - [Emory Housing: Clairmont Residential Center](https://housing.emory.edu/housing-options/residence-halls/crc.html) - [Emory Housing: Undergraduate Residential Center](https://housing.emory.edu/housing-options/residence-halls/urc.html) - [Emory University: Clairmont Campus map](https://map.emory.edu/mappdf/gis_map/Clairmont.pdf) - [Fernbank Museum of Natural History: plan your visit](https://fernbankmuseum.org/visit/plan-your-visit/) - [FOX 5 Atlanta: Leaf Watch 2026, fall color starts to pop in North Georgia](https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/leaf-watch-2026-fall-color-starts-pop-north-georgia) - [Hoodline: Georgia fall foliage 2026](https://hoodline.com/2026/10/north-georgia-s-fall-leaf-season-kicks-off-with-a-mountain-to-valley-color-rush/) - [Building outlines: OpenStreetMap contributors](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) ### The newsletter Henge Days also has a newsletter. It covers what each release of the site adds and how to use it, and the buildings the #HengeDays community photographs in head-on light. [Read it on Substack](https://hengedays.substack.com/). The address goes to Substack, which sends the email and asks you to confirm. Henge Days does not keep it. --- Every date and time on Henge Days is computed from a building outline in OpenStreetMap and the position of the sun. Nobody has checked it on the ground. Hills, trees and other buildings can block a low sun. Treat each date as a plan to confirm before you travel. See https://hengedays.com/terms.md. Henge Days is free to use; sign in only to save days to a planner. Contact: hello@hengedays.com.