Harvard-Yale doesn’t begin with tailgate — if done right, it ends with one. This weekend, the 130-year tradition of Harvard-Yale will be over in less than 48 hours. Cross Campus previews all the parties, talks, and festivities below. Follow regular coverage from all corners of campus at yaledailynews.com/thegame13 and on Twitter @yaledailynews with #TheGame13. For XC’s Guide to Football, see here.

FRIDAY

Master’s Tea with Alum and NPR White House Correspondent Ari Shapiro. 3:00 PM – 4:15 PM. Davenport College. In addition to his role as a journalist, Shapiro can occasionally be found moonlighting as a singer for pop-jazz classical group Pink Martini, fun fact.

Harvard-Yale Chess Match. 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM. Hall of Graduate Studies. XC has already established that in many ways, chess and football are one and the same. The tradition of the chess match, which pits the best players from both schools against each other, goes as far back as 1906. Blood will be spilled, kings and queens will topple, knights will face each other — well not exactly because of their bizarre L-formation movement, and pawns will be sent to die. There will be food.

The Purple Crayon with Harvard’s Immediate Gratification Players. 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM.  You will have to choose between a rock and a hard place improv comedy and the Glee Club concert, which ends at 9:30. Harvard has promised ‘immediate gratification,’ and here’s hoping they follow through.

Viola Question and OTI Present: The Harvard-Yale Show. 10:00 PM – 10:45 PM. Nick Chapel in Trumbull. The best way to top your night at an improv comedy show is by promptly attending another improv comedy show. It will give you the sense of being trapped in an endless cycle of improvised humor, a la Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit.

Alternative African Music Concert, 8:30 PM – 10:00 PM. Afro-American Cultural Center. The show serves as a Yale debut for both Paapa, a power-ballad-loving, love-song writing vocalist from Ghana, and Wambura Mitaru, a Kenyan siren from Berkelee College of Music. Proving that music from any culture can veer down the indie-alternative route.

Bailando por un Sueno: Dancing for a Dream. 10:00 PM – 1:00 AM. La Casa. *Charity Event* For $3, you can salsa and dougie with MEChA, while contributing to their scholarship for undocumented students in New Haven.

Yale/Harvard DJ Battle 10:30 PM – 2:00 AM. Commons. The important thing is not who wins the DJ Battle but how quickly the student DJ Battle will end so a professional can take the stage.

Tip: A number of cultural groups on Campus have mixers on Friday, so do your research because cultural house mixers mean food. Shout-out to the Harvard-Yale Canadian Mixer.

SATURDAY

Tailgate. 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM. The earlier you get there, the more hours of tailgating you will be able to squeeze in before noon. The earlier you get there, the fewer hours of tailgate you will be able to sustain. Catch-22.

The Game12:00 PM. To go or not to go… that is the question.

BSAY Presents: the Showdown.  7:00 PM.  Afro-American Cultural Center. The talent show, involving dance, poetry, and music groups from both Yale and Harvard, features the likes of Shades, Rhythmic Blue, and WORD. Ticket costs $7, but the price also includes an afterparty at Af-Am catered by NYC DJ Relly Rell.

Toad’s. Reliable.

DEBORAH OYEYEMI