A frog-filled Friday awaits students, faculty and anyone else interested in taking part in Homecoming activities on campus this weekend.

One of the newest additions to the festivities, Frog Fest, will take place at 8:00 p.m. on Friday immediately following the Homecoming Parade which is scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m.

Kendal Rader, a junior speech pathology major and Programming Council Homecoming director, said activities during Frog Fest will include a hot air balloon, a bounce house, a live band called Professor D, fried Oreos, Snickers, cheesecake from the company Fried What? and pumpkin patches. The first 1,000 children who enter Frog Fest with a costume on will receive a free football ticket for the TCU vs. UNLV game Saturday, she said.

The university also adopted a real Horned Frog, also known as the Texas Horned Lizard, from the Fort Worth Zoo, Rader said.

“I wanted to work with the zoo because they are our neighbors and part of my goal for Homecoming was to build a strong relationship with the community,” Rader said.

Originally, the goal was to have the Horned Frog live on campus, but they need special care. They eat 80 to 100 harvest ants a day, Rader said. The Texas Horned Lizard is also listed by the state of Texas as Protected since there population has declined. Owners of the creatures also need a special permit.

Chancellor Victor Boschini described the Fort Worth Zoo as a treasure to the community and said making sure the Fort Worth Zoo prospers would be in the community’s best interest.

“I think anything we can do to support our great zoo helps support TCU and Fort Worth at the same time,” Boschini said. “I also think this would be a neat tie-in for Homecoming.”

Merillat Pittman, a senior political science major and speaker for the House of Student Representatives, said the university is always looking for new traditions. Pittman said she thinks it is important for people unfamiliar with Fort Worth to see how the campus takes tradition seriously and embraces the mascot.

Rader said adopting the horned frog will cost the university an annual fee of $1,000.

A table with information about the adoption will be set up at Frog Fest and donations can be made to help support the horned frog. Discounted Fort Worth Zoo tickets will also be available to buy.