One of the great things about going to a football game over any other sport at UNC is how the game day atmosphere just completely takes over campus. For the last couple of decades, football game days have seen a party on the main part of the UNC Campus, complete with performances by the UNC Spirit squads. Over the last few years, the area of celebration has expanded over into the Bell Tower area, and just about anywhere you stroll on campus, you’ll find people parked and tailgating before they head over to Kenan.
On Thursday, UNC announced that along with the new hype around the football program and the national attention it’s bringing, the celebration prior to the game will also be amped up. The pregaming program will now be called “Chapel Thrill Gameday” and it will encompass an even bigger footprint of campus. Along with the article, UNC released a video showing a rendering of what all the celebratory areas will look like:
Perhaps the biggest addition in all of this will be an actual concert performance in front of Wilson Library and the release promises that “national recording artists” will be performing for the public. As we get closer to the season opener, the full schedule of performers will be announced, but considering ESPN will be on-site for the Labor Day season kickoff, there’s a pretty high likelihood that the first performer will be someone of note.
The team is also going to bring back the Old Well Walk for the opener, presumably because of the special event. That means the team buses will stop at the Old Well, and the team will walk all the way through the new celebration area, past Wilson and the Bell Tower on their way to the stadium. It’s understood that for the other home games the team will walk in the normal spot by the Bell Tower, but depending on how successful the Old Well walk is they may do it for other games.
Last year the Kickoff Club—an enclosed area where people could buy drinks and watch several big screens of the action—was in front of the Bell Tower, but it’s now being moved to the opposite side of Wilson Library and will be bigger according to UNC. Opening up the Bell Tower will allow for UNC to expand the area that they allow for “turnkey tailgating” where fans can purchase a pack and have a tent all to themselves.
For folks who loved gathering in front of Wilson Library about an hour before the game to hear the Marching Tar Heels perform before the marched to the stadium, fear not—that tradition remains intact. The release, though, states that the band will now be on the erected stage.
Finally, the pit will also be host to the Fan Zone area with further big screens, food trucks, and UNC athlete signings similar to previous seasons.
In short, football is taking over pretty much the entire mid campus area for pregaming, creating a celebration atmosphere for fans who are and even aren’t going to the game.
Interested fans can start the activities four hours prior to kickoff — meaning 4 PM for the season opener on September 1st — and enjoy everything all the way up to thirty minutes before kickoff.
It’s a sign of the success of Carolina’s growing pregame efforts that they are expanding this further, and it’ll be interesting to see what acts come to perform in front of Wilson. Even if you don’t have a ticket, it should be a a party atmosphere before kickoff.