In only four years, the Bulldog Bash has grown from a pep rally at the amphitheater into an event that will last over seven hours and take over the Cotton District.
The event has grown to include more of the town and the whole university rather than focusing only on athletics. As a result, the scope of the event has grown, as shown by last year’s turnout, said Mississippi State University Student Association Co-director of External Affairs Travis Wolfe.
“The event was not highly publicized last year and no one really knew what to expect, but close to 10,000 people came,” Wolfe said.
For some, the event also stands as a symbol of the closer relationship between the city and university.
“I think that the Bulldog Bash builds a sense of cohesiveness between the community and the students, which has definitely helped the growth of the event,” SA Secretary Claire Hardin said.
“We couldn’t have put on an event like this without cooperation. Our sponsors have been willing to help it grow. The aldermen have been very supportive, and restaurant owners have been willing to work with us,” Hardin added.
Starkville Ward 4 Alderman Lee Beck said he was gratified by the stronger bonds he sees between students and the town.
“It’s become a way of showing the students how much the community supports the school. But the event also helps a lot of people.”
Beck also pointed to the economic benefits of the Bash.
“Since the game is on Saturday, the Bulldog Bash gives people something to do on Friday. So it’s possible that the event could encourage people who are already coming to the game to stay the whole weekend,” Beck said.
The city’s support for the Bash was also shown recently when the aldermen passed a motion to close the streets leading into the Cotton District at 10 a.m. Friday.
“Last year the roads weren’t blocked because no one really knew if it would be necessary. But this year we are bringing in a much larger act, so we really had no choice,” Wolfe said.
Although the roads to them will be blocked, businesses in the Cotton District will be open until 2 p.m. Managers at the Bulldog Deli and the Grill say they welcome the Bash.
“We still get a lot of people at the Deli. This year we will even have a booth outside. We really enjoy the event, and we welcome everyone who comes to it,” said Bulldog Deli assistant manager “Diamond” Dave Wood.
“We kind of get publicity out of it, because it brings so many people into the Cotton District. A lot of people don’t even know that the Grill is back here, so we love it,” Grill bar manager Jesse Morris said.
With the support of the Starkville community, over $25,000 raised from local sponsors and $10,000 provided by the SA, the coordinators of the Bulldog Bash stepped up the publicity for this year’s event.
In addition to notifying students, alumni and residents of Starkville, publicity efforts include ads placed in the school newspapers at the University of Mississippi, Louisiana State University and the University of Southern Mississippi. Also, 2,000 postcards were sent to prospective students as a recruitment effort.
“Hopefully a lot of them will come to the Bulldog Bash and have a chance to see what the events at MSU are like. We are expecting around 15,000 people this year,” Wolfe said.
Supporters of the Bash are excited about this year’s event and hope to see it grow even more in the future.
“I think that it will definitely grow and lead to other events like it. We started it in an amphitheater four years ago with no expectations of it becoming this huge in such a short amount of time, so I think it will get even bigger,” Beck said.
“When we started working on it this year, we knew we wanted to make big so that it could become an event that everyone looks forward to every year. All I can hope for next year’s Bulldog Bash is that they will work hard to make it as good or better than we have this year,” Wolf said.
“We really capitalized on the success of last year’s event, and worked hard to make it more organized and make it appeal to a wider audience,” Slocum said.
“This year is just a stepping block. I hope that in the future Bulldog Bash becomes a tradition that grows more and more every year until it’s not just a Starkville event, and not just a Mississippi event, but an event that the entire SEC recognizes and wants to come to,” she added.