The flamingos are back! UW-Madison hopes to turn Bascom Hill pink during annual “Fill the Hill”

Event is the school's largest single day of giving

MADISON, Wis. — You’ll see a whole lot of red on campus this weekend… even more than usual! Thousands of alumni are returning to Madison for a couple jam-packed days full of Homecoming festivities.

But Friday, you can forget red: You’re going to see a whole lot of pink on campus.

The annual Fill the Hill starts at 6 a.m., when Bascom Hill gets adorned with more than a thousand flamingos.

The event started as a prank, but over the years, it’s turned into a beloved tradition and fundraiser.

The Wisconsin Alumni Association uses the event as a 24-hour fundraiser and the single largest day of giving. For every donation given today, students stick a flamingo onto the grass at Bascom Hill.

This shows how important private support is to the UW–Madison, and how your donations help the university maintain its excellence in education.

Anyone who makes a $250 donation today will get a flamingo shipped to their house after the event.

You’ve probably heard the story by now— as it’s become a bit of a legend— but the flamingos first became notorious in 1979, when students from the Pail and Shovel student political organization planted more than 1,000 of the plastic birds on Bascom Hill (1,008 birds, to be exact).

You can check out this year’s flock for yourself until 6 p.m.

Click here to make a donation and sponsor a flamingo.

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