Coming Spring 2027 · UC Berkeley

Step through Sather Gate. Find your voice. Get MISTified.

MIST NorCal is here! One weekend at UC Berkeley: 26 competitions, workshops worth losing sleep over, and a few hundred Muslim high schoolers from the Bay to Sacramento, about to be your people.

One weekend at Berkeley. 26 competitions. A few hundred Muslim high schoolers about to be your people.

Get on the list → I'm a parent or coach
Stop 02 · Memorial Glade · the heart of campus

What even is MIST?

Meet.Learn.Compete.

The Muslim Interscholastic Tournament is a weekend-long competition for high schoolers that has run since 2002. Over 6,000 students compete every year across more than a dozen regions, in everything from Qur'an recitation to short film to basketball. Regional winners go to Nationals.

It's run entirely by volunteers, it's open to students of every background (no Islamic knowledge required), and it's the kind of weekend people still talk about in college. NorCal has done this before. 2027 is the year.

A weekend-long tournament for high schoolers, volunteer-run since 2002. Qur'an to short film to basketball, open to everyone. 2027 is the year.

2002running since
6,000+students a year
26competitions
Top 5go to Nationals

Memorial Glade The lawn in the middle of campus where Berkeley goes to breathe: grass, sun, the Campanile keeping time over everything. Between rounds, this is where you'll find half of MIST sitting in a circle.The lawn where Berkeley goes to breathe. Between rounds, half of MIST sits here in a circle.

01

Meet your people

A few hundred Muslim high schoolers from Berkeley to Sacramento in one place. This is where college roommates and lifelong friends get found.

02

Compete in 26 events

Qur'an, debate, basketball, fashion design, short film, poetry, science fair. Artists, athletes, and arguers all get a stage.

03

Level up for real

Public speaking, interviews, pitching, feedback from judges who are doctors, engineers, and artists. Awards that belong on a college app.

04

Learn your deen your way

Workshops built for you: mental health, career panels, Islamic speaking, self-defense, and the questions you can't ask anywhere else.

The 26 competitions · six categories

There's a stage for you.

Category
Your vibe

One competition per category, up to six total. Descriptions follow the official MIST 2026 rulebook; the 2027 rulebook drops in December, and NorCal may add pilot events. Read the rulebook →

Find your competition

Don't know where to start? Three questions.

30seconds, tops

Answer honestly and we'll match you with your top three competitions, then pre-fill your sign-up. No wrong answers, except "I'd rather watch."

Question 1 of 3

Your top three

This is your lane.

Next stop03 · The Campanile
Stop 03 · Sather Tower · 307 ft

The Oath of Time.

The 2027 MIST theme, national and NorCal, comes from Surah Al-'Asr: three ayat that swear by time itself. Every art piece, essay, film and pitch this spring answers to it. Keep scrolling: we're going up.

Sather Tower · keeping time since 1915

Going up.

61 bells. 307 feet. Four clock faces with 17-foot hands. The Campanile has counted every hour over this campus for a century; for one weekend in spring, it counts yours.

307 ft · the observation deck

The view from the top.

The Bay, the bridge, the city, the sun going down behind Marin. This is what a MIST weekend at Berkeley looks like from up here. Now let's get to work.

Surah Al-'Asr · 103:1–3Hover any word

وَٱلْعَصْرِ ﴿١﴾ إِنَّ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ لَفِى خُسْرٍ ﴿٢﴾ إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ ﴿٣﴾

Wal-'asr. Innal-insana lafi khusr. Illal-ladhina amanu wa 'amilus-salihati wa tawasaw bil-haqqi wa tawasaw bis-sabr.

By time, humanity is at a loss, except those who believe, do what is right, and keep urging one another toward truth and toward patience.

  • For your projects: time as a gift, a deadline, a trust. What you build with the hours you were given.
  • For your team: "urge one another": the whole surah is about not doing this alone.
  • For the judges: National's own words: unique projects displaying creativity and insight will be judged most favorably.

Announced by MIST National on Oct 7, 2026. Read the full theme →

The Campanile has kept time over this campus since 1915: 61 bells, 307 feet, four clock faces with 17-foot hands, rung every day since 1917. The whole weekend, it'll be counting with you.

Right now in Berkeley--:--PT
Spring 2027 starts in—days
Official datesDropping soon
The weekend blueprint

What a MIST weekend actually looks like.

Sample flow · official 2027 dates & rooms dropping soon

    Next stop04 · The View
    Stop 04 · Observation deck · 200 ft up

    Pick your path.

    From up here you can see the whole Bay. Students go left. Parents, coaches and teachers go right. Everyone ends up at the same place: the sign-up at the bottom.

    Hype is a stat.

    Spirit points are a real part of MIST. Your team earns them by going to the workshops, being on time, and cheering for other schools, not just your own. They never touch your competition scores, but they decide the spirit awards, and those are the ones the whole room screams for. Think:

    Best chantBest bannerLoudest sectionBest merchCleanup crewMost MISTified
    Top 5

    In every national-level competition, the top five at NorCal are invited to MIST Nationals. Different city every summer. Same energy, bigger room.

    Get on the list → How registration works ↗

    Peace of mind.

    You're trusting us with your kid for a weekend. Here's exactly who we are, how the weekend is supervised, and what we still owe you once dates are locked.

    MIST is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, 100% volunteer-run since 2002.
    Every team brings a registered adult coach who stays on campus the whole time.
    Prayer breaks and halal food are built into the schedule, not an afterthought.
    Financial aid will be available. Cost is never the reason a student misses MIST.
    Ask us anything → Judge or volunteer
    Support MIST NorCal

    Back the kids.

    Every dollar goes to rooms, trophies, halal lunch and financial aid. No salaries, no overhead, no middle. Masjids, businesses, families: here's how you show up.

    Sponsor or donate →
    Next stop05 · The Belfry · sign up
    Stop 05 · The belfry · ring the bells

    Rep your school.

    Sixty-one bells up here. Tap your school to ring one and put it on the board. Loudest school when registration opens gets the first shoutout on @mistnorcal.

    Footage: MIST

    Hype board Live

      Nobody's rung a bell yet. Be first.