Blacksburg's first "Downtown Tailgate" will take place this Friday in preparation for the Virginia Tech-Nebraska football game.
The event is sponsored by the Downtown Merchants of Blacksburg and is meant to be a way for both Tech and Nebraska fans to have a good time, while also bringing business downtown.
It will feature performer DJ Kerry Taylor, BecoBall tailgate games, the Tech Bookstore Downtown Bungee Run and Party NRV inflatable bouncers for children.
There will also be a beer and wine garden set up close to the stage along College Avenue. Cheerleaders from both Tech and Nebraska will be present, and fans can participate in a "Show Your Team Sprit Contest."
The Downtown Merchants of Blacksburg is a not-for-profit group of almost 90 downtown business owners that sponsors events designed to be fun for the community while also helping out the downtown area.
The group's largest event is Steppin' Out, the arts and crafts street festival that takes place downtown every year in August.
Laureen Blakemore, director of special events for the Downtown Merchants, is in charge of running and coordinating the Tailgate in cooperation with the Town of Blacksburg.
"It's for community, it's for Nebraska fans, it's for Virginia Tech fans," Blakemore said. "It's just a fun night before the game celebration."
While the hope is that the event will be a fun time for all, it will also serve to bring business downtown.
"Everything we do is a combination of both. We try to make community events fun, and it's also to drive foot traffic down here so everyone can see what's here," Blakemore said.
Steve Miller, the owner of Mish Mish and a member of the Downtown Merchants, suggested the idea for the Tailgate.
The town of Christiansburg held a successful tailgate for last year's game against Georgia Tech, and Miller wanted to try having one in Blacksburg.
After considering and adopting the idea, the Downtown Merchants decided to have the tailgate especially for the Nebraska game.
"We decided to do Nebraska because last year the people that went out to the Nebraska game said that the folks at Nebraska were just so welcoming and cordial that we thought maybe we could repay the hospitality for the Nebraska people, and we've reached out trying to get some of them to come down," Miller said.
Travis Bishop, owner of High Peak Sportswear, is another member of the Downtown Merchants. Bishop served on the planning committee for the Tailgate and is working with Tech to bring the cheerleaders and the HighTechs to the event.
"With the Tech football games, there's so many people coming in from out of town, and it's a great way to promote our businesses downtown," Bishop said. "It's open not just for Virginia Tech fans. The out of town people from Nebraska are more than welcome to come. It's for the fans so they know that they have somewhere to go the night before the game - and not just sitting in hotel rooms."
Another downtown business playing a part in this event is the Tech Bookstore.
The Tech Bookstore is part of a chain of bookstores owned by the Nebraska Book Company in Lincoln, Neb., which has helped provide a link between the schools for spreading the word about the Tailgate.
Jerry Diffel of the Tech Bookstore said the Tailgate will bring fans from both teams together.
"I like the concept because Nebraska was so kind and welcoming when we went there, it's just nice to do the same here in Blacksburg," Diffel said.
The Tech Bookstore's main contribution to the Tailgate is the First Downtown Bungee Run.
"The bungee cord is at your back, and you can try to run for a touchdown," Diffel explained.
The Downtown Tailgate is also going to be a Green Event, as described by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
"We're doing most of our advertising online or by word of mouth to reduce paper
waste, and our food vendor in the festival will not be using Styrofoam," Blakemore said. "We're making less of a bad impact on the environment, hopefully. It's part of our commitment to being as green as we can downtown."