Planning on going to see Jason Durelo and others at the Bulldog Bash this weekend? Starkville Police Department suggests showing up early, and maybe leaving the sledgehammer at home.
Bulldog Bash is an annual event put on by the Mississippi State University Student Association and held in downtown Starkville.
SPD Lt. Tyler Davis, who is in charge of security for this year’s event, told The Dispatch street closures for the event will start around midnight Thursday/Friday.
“We’re going to start shutting down right around Regions Bank, that little block right around the hub,” Davis said. “That’s where we’re going to build the stage.”
Around 9 a.m. Friday Main Street will be blocked between Jackson and Lafayette, he said, followed by Lampkin Street and South Lafayette around noon. Main Street between Lafayette and Washington will be closed off around 1 p.m., followed by Washington Street and south Jackson Street by 5 p.m.
Maroon Market – a mix of local vendors, food trucks and shops – will start around 3:30 p.m., Davis said, as will live music at the Local Stage.
The Main Stage acts are Battle of the Bands winner Take Twelve, at 7:15 p.m.; Ingrid Andress at 8:15 p.m.; and headliner Jason Derulo at 9:30 p.m.
Shuttles will be running “constantly” from 5:30 p.m. until 1:30 a.m. from three sites, Davis said: Montgomery Hall on the MSU campus; the Russell/Maxwell Street intersection; and the Lampkin/Jackson Street intersection.
Attendees will be able to come in and out of the Bulldog Bash area via two gates, Davis said.
“The south gate is at Lafayette and Lampkin, and the north gate is the breezeway at Starkville Cafe,” Davis said. “You will walk through the breezeway and right through the metal detectors, and then you’re right there on Main Street.”
People should expect the same level of security getting in as they would at a Southeastern Conference football game, Davis said.
“Clear bags, no weapons of any kind,” Davis said. “Every person who enters the area will go through a metal detector. No rolling coolers, no pets, especially those on leashes because they can be hazards in and of themselves in that area.”
While people can bring in keychain-style containers of pepper spray, knives, firearms and blunt objects are forbidden.
“No objects that don’t fit in with being at a concert,” Davis said. “If someone brings a sledgehammer, we’re probably not going to let them come in with it.”
Davis also urged concert-goers to come in earlier rather than later.
“We open the main gate at 3 p.m.,” Davis said. “If you want to get a good spot, get there early. The main event starts at 9 p.m., and if you try to funnel in 10,000 people between 8 and 9 o’clock a lot of people aren’t going to get in.”
Police will start turning people away around 10:20 or 10:30 p.m., Davis said, to help transition to the exit time.
Davis said he expects the show to be over between 10:45 and 11 p.m., and he estimated it would take about 30 minutes to clear the area. Once revelers are out, cleaning up and breaking down the stage will begin.
“Typically it takes us until 5 or 6 a.m. to open everything back up,” Davis said. “But by 2 in the morning we’ll likely be down to just the area around the main stage. Our goal is to have everything opened back up by 6 a.m.”
For more information, including maps and showtimes, visit msubulldogbash.com.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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