More than 40,000 people are expected to descend upon Mississippi State University and Starkville this weekend, as the city will play host to both Super Bulldog Weekend and the Cotton District Arts Festival.
Super Bulldog Weekend will be highlighted by a performance from Grammy-award-winning country group Sugarland on the field at Davis Wade stadium. The concert will be the first held in the stadium and is scheduled to immediately follow the Maroon and White spring football scrimmage.
Unlike previous years, tickets must be purchased to attend the Maroon and White game, but the ticket includes the Sugarland show afterward.
Jacqueline Mullen, associate director of the Colvard Student Union at MSU, said ticketing the event was necessary to offset the costs of booking and producing a show of this caliber.
“It takes a lot of resources to bring a world-class act like Sugarland to campus,” she said. “We knew we would have to have some kind of revenue to support it.”
Maroon and White game
Chad Thomas, assistant athletic director of marketing at MSU, said about 35,000 people attended last year’s Maroon and White game.
This year only 15,000 tickets have been sold so far, but Thomas has high hopes the number will get closer to 25,000 by the end of the week.
Tickets, which cost $25 for general admission and $50 for a field pass, are available through the MSU athletic ticket office and online at www.hailstate.com/tickets.
“The cheapest seat you can get on Sugarland’s tour right now is $59.50, and that’s in the nosebleeds” Thomas said. “We are trying to put you on the field with the band for less than that.”
The joining of the spring game and the show was the result of combined efforts from the MSU Athletic Department, Music Maker Productions, the MSU Student Association and the Campus Activities Board.
Mullen said the idea to bring Sugarland to campus has been in the works for over a year, and she does not think people realize what goes into booking a nationally touring act.
“It is kind of just a big jigsaw puzzle that you have keep working to fit,” Mullen said. “Especially with us, we had a specific date and time that we needed to work with.”
Brice Lambert, student director of Music Maker Production, wanted to be sure people know the walkway connecting the east and west sides of the stadium, behind the grandstands and the north end zone, will be closed.
“Go in on the side your ticket is for. You will not be able to cross behind the stage, and for this event, you will not be allowed to re-enter once you leave the stadium,” Lambert cautioned.
Several other MSU sports teams will be playing for the large crowds in town this weekend. The baseball team will take on the University of Tennessee in a two-game series, the men’s tennis team will play host to the Southeastern Conference Championship, the softball team will face the University of Kentucky in two games and both soccer and volleyball will host their alumni games.
Cotton District Arts Fest
This year the Cotton District Arts Festival falls on the same weekend as Super Bulldog Weekend. Coordinated by the Starkville Area Arts Council, with the help of sponsors, the festival is worked entirely by volunteers and has been a source of revenue and culture for the city.
The festival will boast 130 artisan booths, 18 food vendors and a wide range of musical acts, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Three stages and three ‘villages’ will dot the district from Nash Street to the MSU Visual Art Center Gallery on University Drive.
Emily Craven, co-chair for the Cotton District Arts Festival, said even though Super Bulldog Weekend brings in extra people, she knows local business owners, especially those who participate in the festival, would really rather have the two weekends separate.
“Instead of having two big draws in the spring you only get one; that can be tough,” Craven said. “I know this though, it’s worth their time to set up at 6 o’clock in the morning on Super Bulldog Weekend.”
She also pointed out the benefits of participating as an artisan in the festival could come long after the weekend passes.
“It depends on what the product is; a lot of (the business) might not even be there, but they are still making contacts and they might get asked to do specific art for those contacts later,” Craven said.
She said did not want to try and estimate the amount of revenue the festival might generate overall, but said the return is definitely there.
“I know it’s going to be a huge weekend for everyone. From the hotels, to the restaurants, to the retail stores, this weekend will definitely be a boost,” said Craven.
David Lindley, chief of the Starkville Police Department, said the SPD has prepared for the event many times and Super Bulldog Weekend is not handled much differently than a regular SEC home football game weekend.
“The crowds are a little different,” Lindley said. “Most of the crowds this weekend are usually more centered around campus activities. At an SEC game, you have people coming into town early and staying in hotels later and a lot of activity goes on.”
But Lindley also noted this weekend will be different, with the concert being played in the stadium.
“It will be an unusual situation, with Sugarland coming. It remains to be seen whether or not they will draw a larger-than-average crowd,” Lindley said. “Even so, this event just doesn’t generate the number of concentrated people at one time that a football game would.”
No vacancies
Tracy Carpenter, general manager of the Hampton Inn on Highway 12, said, all the hotel rooms in Starkville have been booked for nearly eight months for this weekend, but it happens every year, during Super Bulldog Weekend.
“It’s always like this,” Carpenter said. “We have had people calling left and right, looking for a room, and we have had to keep turning them away.”
She said the Hampton Inn’s occupancy is nearly 20 percent more than a normal weekend, which she added was probably the same with all the hotels in the area.
For more information on Super Bulldog Weekend visit hailstate.com and for information on the Cotton District Arts festival visit starkvillearts.org
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