# Harvard University Family Weekend, October 22 to 25, 2026: four buildings to photograph by the river and near Harvard Square, and when the Yard lines up > Harvard University Family Weekend, October 22 to 25, 2026: four walls by the Charles and near Harvard Square that line up with the low sun, when to be there around the weekend's events, where to stand for the family picture, and the dates the Yard's own buildings line up. This is the Markdown form of https://hengedays.com/articles/buildings-to-photograph-harvard-family-weekend-2026, with the same words as the page. Part of [Family Weekends 2026](https://hengedays.com/articles/family-weekends-2026), school 7 of 26. Previous school: [Emory University](https://hengedays.com/articles/buildings-to-photograph-emory-family-weekend-2026). Next school: [MIT](https://hengedays.com/articles/buildings-to-photograph-mit-family-weekend-2026). *Tata Hall, the first building in the list, in Henge Days. Pink marks the wall the sun lines up with on all four Family Weekend mornings. The path along the Charles River is at the top right.* For October 22 to 25, 2026. Family Weekend at Harvard College runs from Thursday, October 22, to Sunday, October 25, 2026, for the families of first-year students and juniors. This guide lists the four walls by the Charles River and near Harvard Square that the low sun lines up with on those days, with the times and a spot for the family picture. Post yours with #HengeDays. In this article - [The weekend's schedule and the light](#the-weekend-s-schedule-and-the-light) - [Part 1: The campus](#part-1-the-campus) - [Part 2: Harvard Square and the town](#part-2-harvard-square-and-the-town) - [When the Yard lines up](#when-the-yard-lines-up) - [How the list was made](#how-the-list-was-made) - [How to read each entry](#how-to-read-each-entry) - [Plan a trip of your own](#plan-a-trip-of-your-own) On Saturday the sun rises at 7:08 AM and sets at 5:48 PM. Every time in this guide is US Eastern. All four walls are golden days: at the head-on moment the sun is 2 to 6 degrees up, about half an hour after sunrise or before sunset. ### The weekend's schedule and the light Harvard's own sites did not load when this guide was written, on October 17. The dates come from the Dean of Students Office's answer to "When is Family Weekend?" as a web search returned it. The search did not reach the day-by-day program, so the list names only the two events it found on other calendars, Harvard Hillel's and Harvard athletics'. Check the program on the [Parent and Family Programs site](https://families.college.harvard.edu/) before you plan around it. - Thursday, October 22: the weekend begins. Sunrise is at 7:05 AM and sunset at 5:51 PM. Tata Hall and Cronkhite Center line up at 7:41 AM, and Sherrill Library at 5:24 PM. - Friday, October 23, 7:30 to 9:00 PM: Family Weekend Shabbat dinner at Harvard Hillel, 52 Mount Auburn Street, from Harvard Hillel's calendar. Before it, Sherrill Library off Brattle Street lines up at 5:25 PM, its last evening in full sun this weekend. Hillel is about 1 km away on foot, through the Square. In the morning, Cronkhite Center lines up at 7:39 AM and Tata Hall at 7:40 AM. - Saturday, October 24, 3:00 PM: Princeton at Harvard in football, at Harvard Stadium in Allston, from Harvard athletics' schedule. Before it, Tata Hall at 7:38 AM, about 650 m from the stadium and the family photo spot below, or Cronkhite Center at 7:38 AM. No wall in this guide lines up on Saturday evening. - Sunday, October 25: the search reached no events. Tata Hall lines up at 7:37 AM, and Leverett House, about 600 m away across the Weeks Footbridge, at 7:45 AM, its only day this weekend. ### Part 1: The campus Three walls, all for the morning. Two are by the river, one on each bank. The third is a Harvard graduate residence on Brattle Street, a few minutes' walk west of Radcliffe Yard. The Yard itself has no wall in this guide. Its section below says why and gives its dates. #### 1 Tata Hall Harvard Business School, Boston, Massachusetts Wall east-southeast, facing 111° Sun The low morning sun lines up with this wall on Oct 22 to 25. Best: Sunday, October 25 at 7:37 AM, 4.3° above the horizon. Leaves Eastern Massachusetts turns late. The state Department of Conservation and Recreation map projected that by October 27 all of Massachusetts shows peak color or is just past it ([WHDH](https://whdh.com/news/dcr-map-tracks-fall-foliage-in-massachusetts/)). Where to stand The wall is the short end at the north tip of the building, where the curve turns toward the river. Stand on the footpath east-southeast of it, between the building and Soldiers Field Road, with the sun behind you. Stay off the road. The sun lines up with the wall at 7:41 AM on Thursday, 7:40 AM on Friday, 7:38 AM on Saturday and 7:37 AM on Sunday, 5.7, 5.2, 4.7 and 4.3 degrees up. These are golden days: at the head-on moment the sun is 2 to 6 degrees up. The lit wall is 10 m long. The walls beside it face 98 and 75 degrees and take the same sun at an angle. Peabody Terrace, Harvard's graduate towers across the river, rises to 2.7 degrees toward the sun, below it on all four days. Computed from the building outline and the sun's position, and not checked on the ground. Clear view Clear. No building in the map data rises above the sun (4.3° up) in its direction. A seven-story glass-and-stone building for the Business School's executive education programs, with classrooms on the lower floors and bedrooms above for the executives who come to study. William Rawn Associates designed it, gifts from two Tata trusts paid for it, and it was dedicated in December 2013 ([Harvard Gazette](https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2013/12/business-school-to-dedicate-tata-hall)). It curves along the Allston bank of the Charles, across the river from the Harvard houses. *The building page in Henge Days. The highlighted walls face 111°, toward the sunrise on the days in the row below; every wall carries its bearing.* - **Thu, Oct 22 to Wed, Nov 4, 2026**14 mornings · best Wed, Nov 4 **6:23 AM** Golden sunrise, sun 0° up ESE 111° 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/42.36652,-71.11905?q=Tata+Hall%2C+Boston%2C+MA&b=osm%2Fway%2F297444536&facade=11&d=2026-10-22) Family photo spot. Stand the family on the footpath a few steps out from the north tip of Tata Hall, turned partway toward the camera. The photographer stands east-southeast of them, toward the river, with the sun low behind and to one side, which lights faces and the wall behind them in the same warm light. Go on Saturday at 7:38 AM, the morning of the Princeton game, about 650 m from Harvard Stadium, or on Sunday at 7:37 AM, when the sun is lowest. Post it with #HengeDays. Computed from the building outline and the sun's position, and not checked on the ground. #### 2 Leverett House Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts Wall east-southeast, facing 111° Sun The low morning sun lines up with this wall on Oct 25. Best: Sunday, October 25 at 7:45 AM, 5.7° above the horizon. Leaves Boston.com's forecast of October 1 expected better color than in 2025, arriving more slowly ([Boston.com](https://www.boston.com/culture/new-england-travel/2026/10/01/2026-fall-foliage-map-forecast-boston-new-england)). The state map projected peak or just past peak statewide by October 27 ([WHDH](https://whdh.com/news/dcr-map-tracks-fall-foliage-in-massachusetts/)). Where to stand The wall is the front on DeWolfe Street, and the part the sun reaches is the north 17 m, toward Mill Street. Stand on the far sidewalk of DeWolfe Street, east-southeast of that part, with the sun behind you. On Sunday the sun lines up with the wall at 7:45 AM, 5.7 degrees up. This is a golden day: at the head-on moment the sun is 2 to 6 degrees up. Sunday is the first day of the wall's run, which lasts to November 7. The Leverett towers stand toward the sun from the south part of the front and keep it in shade. Checked from points along the wall, about 15 m of the north part is clear. Computed from the building outline and the sun's position, and not checked on the ground. One of the river houses, the upperclass residences along the Charles, named for John Leverett, president of Harvard College from 1708 to 1724 ([Harvard Planning](https://harvardplanning.emuseum.com/sites/940/leverett-house)). It grew from McKinlock Hall, a freshman dormitory of 1925. In 1930 a narrow building along DeWolfe Street added the dining hall and the master's residence, and two 12-story towers followed in 1960 ([Harvard Magazine](https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2011/12/harvard-leverett-house-renewal-2013)). *The building page in Henge Days. The highlighted walls face 111°, toward the sunrise on the days in the row below; every wall carries its bearing.* - **Sun, Oct 25 to Sat, Nov 7, 2026**14 mornings · best Sat, Nov 7 **6:27 AM** Golden sunrise, sun 0° up ESE 111° 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/42.36981,-71.11706?q=Leverett+House%2C+Cambridge%2C+MA&b=osm%2Fway%2F29822739&facade=1&d=2026-10-25) #### 3 Cronkhite Center Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts Wall east-southeast, facing 111° Sun The low morning sun lines up with this wall on Oct 22 to 24. Best: Saturday, October 24 at 7:38 AM, 4.7° above the horizon. Leaves Brattle Street's trees turn late in the season. The state Department of Conservation and Recreation map projected that by October 27 all of Massachusetts shows peak color or is just past it ([WHDH](https://whdh.com/news/dcr-map-tracks-fall-foliage-in-massachusetts/)). Where to stand The wall is the back of the courtyard between the building's two long wings, which opens east-southeast, away from Ash Street. Stand on the walk east of the courtyard and frame the wall between the wings, with the sun behind you. This is a residence, so stay on the walks. The sun lines up with the wall at 7:41 AM on Thursday, 7:39 AM on Friday and 7:38 AM on Saturday, 5.6, 5.1 and 4.7 degrees up. These are golden days: at the head-on moment the sun is 2 to 6 degrees up. Thursday lights the whole 11 m wall, and Friday and Saturday about 7 m of it. On Sunday at 7:36 AM the sun is 4.2 degrees up, and Greenleaf House, toward the sun, rises to 4.3 degrees and keeps the wall in shade. Computed from the building outline and the sun's position, and not checked on the ground. Clear view Clear. No building in the map data rises above the sun (4.7° up) in its direction. A graduate residence of Harvard University Housing at 84 to 86 Brattle Street, built in three parts from 1955 to 1959 ([Harvard Planning](https://harvardplanning.emuseum.com/sites/531/cronkhite-center)). It is named for Bernice Brown Cronkhite, dean of Radcliffe College from 1922 and the first dean of its graduate school, which she led until 1959 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernice_Cronkhite)). *The building page in Henge Days. The highlighted walls face 111°, toward the sunrise on the days in the row below; every wall carries its bearing.* - **Thu, Oct 22 to Wed, Nov 4, 2026**14 mornings · best Wed, Nov 4 **6:22 AM** Golden sunrise, sun 0° up ESE 111° 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/42.37540,-71.12431?q=Cronkhite+Center%2C+Cambridge%2C+MA&b=osm%2Fway%2F29684548&facade=5&d=2026-10-22) ### Part 2: Harvard Square and the town The Square is the place to walk and eat between events: on Friday between the Sherrill Library sunset and the dinner at Hillel on Mount Auburn Street, and on Saturday between the morning walls and the 3:00 PM kickoff. The Cambridge KiOSK in the middle of the Square was built in 1927 as a subway entrance and later held Out of Town News. It reopened on May 30, 2025, with the Cambridge Office for Tourism and exhibitions inside ([City of Cambridge](https://www.cambridgema.gov/digital/stories/2025/thecambridgelifefallwinter2025/therebirthoftheharvardsquarekiosk)). The Coop is across Massachusetts Avenue from the Yard, and Brattle Street, Church Street and Mount Auburn Street run west and south from there. Northwest of the Square, Christ Church faces Cambridge Common from Garden Street. Peter Harrison designed it, and it was finished in 1761 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_Church_(Cambridge,_Massachusetts))). In the Revolution the Common was a mustering ground for American troops and the church served as a barracks ([National Park Service](https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/colonials-patriots/sitec9.htm)). To the south, John F. Kennedy Park meets Memorial Drive, and the paths along the Charles run east past the river houses to the Weeks Footbridge. The one town wall with a clear view this weekend is off Brattle Street, west of Christ Church. #### 4 Sherrill Library Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts Wall west-southwest, facing 251° Sun The low evening sun lines up with this wall on Oct 22 to 23. Best: Friday, October 23 at 5:25 PM, 3.7° above the horizon. Leaves Boston.com's forecast of October 1 expected better color than in 2025, arriving more slowly ([Boston.com](https://www.boston.com/culture/new-england-travel/2026/10/01/2026-fall-foliage-map-forecast-boston-new-england)). The state map projected peak or just past peak statewide by October 27 ([WHDH](https://whdh.com/news/dcr-map-tracks-fall-foliage-in-massachusetts/)). Where to stand The wall is the library's west end, 11 m across, with smaller steps of the same wall beside it. Stand on the campus walks west-southwest of it, with the sun behind you. The sun lines up with the wall at 5:24 PM on Thursday and 5:25 PM on Friday, 4.1 and 3.7 degrees up, and the whole west end is in sun. These are golden days: at the head-on moment the sun is 2 to 6 degrees up. A building to the west-southwest has no height in OpenStreetMap. The check assumed one and found its roofline at 3.3 degrees, below the sun on both days. On Saturday at 5:27 PM, 3.2 degrees up, it shades most of the wall. Computed from the building outline and the sun's position, and not checked on the ground. Clear view Clear. No building in the map data rises above the sun (3.7° up) in its direction. Lesley University's library, a Brutalist building of 1965 that Lesley shared with the Episcopal Divinity School ([Lesley University](https://lesley.smartcatalogiq.com/en/2015-2016/student-handbook/university-resources/lesley-university-library)). It stands on Mason Street, a block from Brattle Street and a few minutes' walk west of the Square. *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.* - **Mon, Oct 19 to Sat, Oct 31, 2026**13 evenings · best Sat, Oct 31 **5:36 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/42.37633,-71.12408?q=Sherrill+Library%2C+99+Brattle+Street%2C+Cambridge%2C+MA&b=osm%2Frelation%2F64846&facade=0&d=2026-10-19) ### When the Yard lines up The Old Yard and Tercentenary Theatre share one axis. University Hall, Massachusetts Hall, Sever Hall, Widener Library and Memorial Church all have walls that face 103 and 283 degrees. The rising sun lined up with their east walls from October 15 to 19, 2026, three days before the weekend. The dates below are for the walls alone, from the same engine. The check for other buildings is not part of them, and the Yard's buildings stand close together. - East walls of the Yard, at sunrise: February 22 to 26, 2027, at about 6:31 AM, and October 16 to 19, 2027, at about 7:03 AM. - West walls of the Yard, at sunset: April 13 to 16, 2027, and August 25 to 29, 2027, both at about 7:22 PM. - Memorial Hall: the west wall at sunset from April 5 to 8, 2027, at about 7:14 PM, and the east wall at sunrise from March 1 to 3, 2027, at about 6:23 AM. - The river houses: Dunster House's east wall on DeWolfe Street lines up at sunrise from October 26 to 29, 2026, at about 7:16 AM, with the Mather House tower in front of it. Lowell House's east wall follows from November 10 to 14, 2026, at about 6:36 AM. Eliot House and Christ Church line up around the shortest days, from early December to early January. ### How the list was made Henge Days looked at the named buildings among the 200 nearest each of 26 points: the Old Yard, Tercentenary Theatre, Quincy Street, Memorial Hall and the Science Center, Radcliffe Yard, Cambridge Common, Christ Church, Church Street, Brattle Street, Harvard Square, Winthrop Square and Mount Auburn Street, Kennedy Park, the river houses, the Law School, the Business School and the athletics fields, plus one point at each wall that passed. It used OpenStreetMap outlines. It kept 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: 102 walls. It then traced the sun's path from points every 2 m along each wall, over every outline it had loaded, and kept the walls with at least 10 m in sun and a walk or sidewalk in front with room to step back. Four walls passed, fewer than this series usually lists. The low sun crosses a dense, old campus. The Yard's buildings line up before and after the weekend. Along Oxford Street and at the Law School, many west walls face the sunset with the sun on the horizon, and taller neighbors stand in front of them. The east walls of the river houses face the Leverett and Mather towers. Ware Hall on Harvard Street, Continental Gardens on Concord Avenue and the Gordon Indoor Track by Harvard Stadium passed the first check, but less than 10 m of each is in sun, or the ground in front is a private yard or a drive. The east wall of Leverett's G Tower has 10 m in sun on Thursday only, across a narrow walk from the next building, with no room to step back. Hemenway Gym on Massachusetts Avenue lines up with the sunset on Thursday with the sun 1 degree up, across the trees of Cambridge Common, and is left out. Hills and trees are not part of that check, and the times assume a level horizon. Cambridge is flat by the river, but street trees still carry leaves in late October and can shade a wall when the sun is this low. Each entry names the building that rises highest toward the sun from in front of the wall. Where its outline carries no height, the check assumed one and the entry says so. Every date and time comes from the Henge Days engine for the wall's own bearing. ### 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 from the middle of the wall. ### Plan a trip of your own - Search for a building, or tap one on the map, and pick the wall you want lit. - The Henge days list shows the next days the sun lines up with that wall, at the horizon or in golden light, with the time. - The Today tab shows the sun's path for one day and when it is square to each wall. Check the cloud forecast there before you go. - Save a day to your [planner](https://hengedays.com/planner) to get a reminder and a calendar entry, or use [Along a street](https://hengedays.com/route) to find every wall that lines up along one road. Any building has a page like the ones above, your student's house included. Whatever you shoot, post it with #HengeDays. [Find a wall in Henge Days](https://hengedays.com/) [Open your planner](https://hengedays.com/planner) ### Sources - [Harvard College Dean of Students Office: When is Family Weekend?](https://dso.college.harvard.edu/faq/when-family-weekend) - [Harvard College Parent and Family Programs](https://families.college.harvard.edu/) - [Harvard Hillel calendar: October 23, 2026](https://hillel.harvard.edu/calendar/2026-10-23/) - [Harvard athletics: football home game times, June 16, 2026](https://gocrimson.com/news/2026/6/16/football-home-game-times-announced.aspx) - [Harvard Gazette: Business School to dedicate Tata Hall, December 2013](https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2013/12/business-school-to-dedicate-tata-hall) - [Harvard Planning: Leverett House](https://harvardplanning.emuseum.com/sites/940/leverett-house) - [Harvard Magazine: Leverett House renewal, December 2011](https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2011/12/harvard-leverett-house-renewal-2013) - [Harvard Planning: Cronkhite Center](https://harvardplanning.emuseum.com/sites/531/cronkhite-center) - [Wikipedia: Bernice Cronkhite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernice_Cronkhite) - [Lesley University: Lesley University Library](https://lesley.smartcatalogiq.com/en/2015-2016/student-handbook/university-resources/lesley-university-library) - [City of Cambridge: the rebirth of the Harvard Square kiosk, 2025](https://www.cambridgema.gov/digital/stories/2025/thecambridgelifefallwinter2025/therebirthoftheharvardsquarekiosk) - [Wikipedia: Christ Church (Cambridge, Massachusetts)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_Church_(Cambridge,_Massachusetts)) - [National Park Service: Christ Church, Colonials and Patriots](https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/colonials-patriots/sitec9.htm) - [WHDH: DCR map tracks fall foliage in Massachusetts](https://whdh.com/news/dcr-map-tracks-fall-foliage-in-massachusetts/) - [Boston.com: 2026 fall foliage forecast, October 1, 2026](https://www.boston.com/culture/new-england-travel/2026/10/01/2026-fall-foliage-map-forecast-boston-new-england) - [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.