Harvard National Speech and Debate Tournament

The Harvard National Speech and Debate Tournament (old name: Harvard National High School Invitational Forensics Tournament), held in Cambridge each Presidents’ Day Weekend, is the largest and most prestigious high school speech and debate tournament in the country, providing opportunities for students to compete in Policy Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, Student Congress, and a variety of individual and duo speech events.

Interested in the competition?

Competition Overview

High school students

Eligibility

Varies, starting from $85

Entry fee

February 14-16, 2026

Tournament Dates

December 1, 2025 - February 9, 2026

Registration Timeline

📌 Note: Aralia is not the organizer of this competition. For official rules, deadlines, and updates, please refer directly to the competition organizer. Aralia provides listings and information about competitions for student reference. Aralia is an online education platform offering competition preparation classes to students worldwide.

Competition Details

1. Competition Overview

Participants compete in various debate and speech events, and judges score them based on criteria like delivery, content, and argumentation. Top performers advance to the elimination rounds, with the final round determining the overall winners

2. Round Robins

Harvard will host round robins in Policy Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate (LD), Public Forum Debate (PF), and Congressional Debate (CX) prior to the main tournament.

Competition Dates:

Policy Round Robin Date: February 12-13, 2026
All other divisions: February 13, 2026

Registration Deadline:

Congressional Debate: December 1-10, 2025
LD, PF, and CX: December 1-21, 2025

3. The “Crimson Bearcat” Policy Debate Tournament

Hosted at Suffolk University (prelims) and Harvard (elims). For this year, Harvard will accept entries from clubs or other debate organizations if the school has no debate team.

4. The Public Forum Debate Tournament

Held at Cambridge Rindge & Latin School. There are 2 divisions: In-person divisions (Varsity, JV, Novice, Middle School) and 2 online divisions (Beginner and Open International).

5. The Lincoln-Douglas Debate Tournament

Location TBD. There are 2 divisions (Varsity and Junior-Varsity), and both will use the January-February National Speech and Debate Association topic and time limits.

6. The World Schools Debate Tournament

Hosted in Harvard Yard (Emerson Hall). There is an in-person division capped at 40 teams (one per school to start) and an online division with no limits. Teams have 3-5 members and can be hybrid in the online division. Both divisions have 6 prelims and break to quarters, with prepared and impromptu motions.

7. The Congressional Debate Tournament

There are 3 divisions (Varsity, Junior-Varsity, and Middle School), and only Varsity and JV will be in person. This tournament follows NSDA rules, with some Harvard-specific additions.

8. Speech Tournament

The tournament will feature competitions in 8 events. NSDA rules apply. Double-entry is allowed.

More information about all the competitions can be found here.