Penn is gearing up for its biggest alumni event of the year: Alumni Weekend.

A record number of attendees are expected. Hoopes Wampler, assistant vice president of Alumni Relations, says a list of pre-registrants for the weekend of May 15-17 indicates that around 10,000 alumni plan to return to campus for the celebration.

Attendees’ graduating classes date back to the 1940s, and some will travel from as far away as Hong Kong.

Because of the anticipated increase in attendance, Wampler says this year’s festivities have been expanded across campus.

“Our Alumni Weekend picnic on Saturday, which years ago used to completely take place on College Green, is now taking place on lots of different spots across campus,” he says. “Some classes will be at the Quad, some will be at College Green, some at Penn Park.”

This year’s Alumni Weekend will be extra memorable for classes ending in “0” and “5,” as it will be their reunion celebrations.

According to Mary Risner, the Penn Fund’s director of class giving and reunion programs, there are 324 reunion fundraising volunteers from 17 classes. To date, this year’s reunion alumni have raised more than $90.5 million in commitments across Penn, with $22.7 million (and counting) to the Penn Fund and undergraduate financial aid.

Educational activities will take place as early as Friday morning—but the weekend will officially kick off Friday night with the FranklinFest All-Alumni Party.

“FranklinFest is a huge celebration for all alumni, with food and music and outdoor entertainment,” says Elise Betz, executive director for Alumni Relations.

Saturday’s schedule is jam-packed with symposiums, seminars, and other educational programs, and, of course, the parade, picnic, and the Taste of Penn Spectrum, which is a night celebrating Penn’s cultural diversity.

New this year will be a screening of “Pitch Perfect 2,” a movie produced by Max Handelman, C’95, and directed by Elizabeth Banks, C’96. Penn Masala, an a cappella group at the University that is featured in the movie, will perform, and Ben Platt, also known as “Benji” in the movie, will speak. (Platt is also the son of Julie Beren Platt, Penn Alumni president.)

The Perelman School of Medicine is marking its 250th year with a special black-tie gala on Saturday at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, featuring headline performer Harry Connick Jr., along with many other related weekend events.

On Sunday, graduates will have the opportunity to participate in an all-alumni memorial service led by the Rev. Charles “Chaz” Howard, C’00, followed by an alumni gospel performance, sponsored by the Class of 1990.

A social media campaign with the hashtag #LovePenn and #PennAW will help fuel the weekend. “Selfie stops” will be set up around campus, too.

Alumni are welcome to stay for the 259th Commencement ceremony at Franklin Field on Monday, May 18. Alumni leaders will line Locust Walk, holding flags and forming an honor guard as the candidates for graduation walk through.