There will be a homecoming parade for the first time since 1993 for UNC's homecoming football game against Duke.

The Saturday game (3:30 pm kickoff on ESPNU) is sold out.

UNC's Homecoming Parade starts at 11 a.m. and begins on Columbia Street (coming out of Swain Parking Lot on campus) towards Franklin Street. Heading east on Franklin Street, the parade will continue past the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center and then turn south onto Raleigh Road and continue back up into campus towards Cameron Avenue. The parade will last for approximately 45 minutes, include nearly 70 student organizations, homecoming royalty and the UNC Marching Tar Heels. The street will only be closed while the parade is in procession and will be opened as it ends.

As Butch Davis prepares his Tar Heels for this meaningful game (The Victory Bell, bragging rights, bowl possibilities and program momentum), six Chapel Hill area organizations have united to produce the "Touch Downtown Chapel Hill" campaign with the shared goal of bolstering the community, hometown spirit and economic activity during football weekends.

"Touch Downtown Chapel Hill" strives to encourage football fans, both residents and visitors, to start early and stay late in Chapel Hill after the game ends and enjoy nearly 100 restaurants, 50 specialty stores and a mile of family cultural attractions.

According to a recent study, the 2008 North Carolina-Notre Dame football game generated $6.4 million for the Chapel Hill and Orange County economies, plus $325,000 in local and state tax revenue. With seven home games on the schedule for 2009, the total economic impact projects to be over $40 million in addition to more than $2 million in local and state tax revenue.

Chapel Hill Transit offers bus transportation from six Park & Ride lots before and after 2009 Tar Heel football games. Two lots on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard offer Tar Heel Express service three hours before kickoff and three hours after the game with drop-off points including Franklin Street, Tar Heel Town and Kenan Stadium.

The drop-off site for all six routes is one block from Kenan Stadium and Tar Heel Town. The costs for all Tar Heel Express buses are $5 round trip and $3 one-way.

Additional information is available at 919-968-2060 or 888-968-2060 or www.TouchDowntown.com.