Forget what you know about fairy tales. The phrase “once upon a time” is out and the phrase “once upon a Laker” is in. In a far away land called Allendale, Michigan, students and alumni are getting ready for a week of events to celebrate Grand Valley State University.

GVSU’s Once Upon a Laker homecoming will take place the week of Oct. 18 through Oct. 24. The week includes a variety of activities for students to participate in to prepare for the homecoming football game on Saturday.

Homecoming events are organized by the department of student life and the Laker Traditions Team. The aim of homecoming is to embrace the “Laker for a Lifetime” mantra and unite the past and present of GVSU, said Bethan Angell, Laker Traditions Team homecoming coordinator.

Oct. 19 will feature the homecoming regent reveal and court serenade taking place at 9:15 p.m. in the Grand River Room of the Kirkhof Center. Regents have been nominated by student organizations on campus. Angell and the rest of the tradition team members have been preparing for this event for weeks.

“Each group that has nominated a regent and they sing to them and it’s a lot of fun,” Angell said. “At the end of the night, we announce the top 10 regents based on their interviews and whatnot and then people vote throughout the week.”

On Oct. 20, a trivia night will take place in Kirkhof Center Room 2215/2216 at 9:15 p.m. Groups of six will compete in this event. All trivia questions will go along with the homecoming theme and will all be fairy tale and Disney themed.

Following trivia is the annual lip sync on Oct. 21 at 9:15 p.m. in the Fieldhouse Arena. In this competition, registered student teams will be performing choreography and lip sync to medleys of songs.

“The lip sync is a little different this year in that we are live-streaming it, and there will be the people’s choice award as well as placing,” Angell said. “The performances are also only five minutes long, and must pertain to ‘Once upon a Laker.'”

Homecoming will also encompass an educational component this year. GVSU will partner with Michigan Bone Marrow, with a bone marrow donation drive at the end of the week. Education tables will be in the Kirkhof Center on Oct. 21 and 22 to explain the process of donating bone marrow. The bone marrow donation drive will benefit community members in need.

On Thursday evening, Spotlight Productions will host a show in the Fieldhouse Arena. This year’s homecoming show features comedians Jay Pharoah and Aidy Bryant from the television show, “Saturday Night Live.” This is the largest production taking place during the fall semester. Tickets for the comedy show are available for purchase at the 20/20 desk in the Kirkhof Center for $10 with a student ID.

Friday afternoon, Sculpt it! will occur in the Thornapple Room in the lower level of the Kirkhof Center. At the event, groups will have two hours to make a sculpture related to the homecoming theme. The sculptures will be made with cans and non-perishable food the groups have collected throughout homecoming week. A panel of judges will decide the winner, and at the end of the competition the items will be donated to the GVSU food pantry.

Also taking place throughout homecoming week is the slipper hunt.

“The slipper hunt is like a scavenger hunt, where we post the clues, and (students) have to go and find the slippers and then take pictures with them,” Angell said.

For more information on this year’s homecoming events visit www.gvsu.edu/studentlife/homecoming.