Fairgrounds Provides First-Come, First-Serve Parking Saturday

Oct. 17, 2016

Due to the annual South Carolina State Fair, Gamecock Club reserved parking in the State Fairgrounds will not be honored on Saturday, October 22, for the South Carolina – UMass football game.

The Fairgrounds parking lot will open at 9 a.m. for both fair and football parking. Fairgrounds employees will handle all parking in the Fairgrounds lot. Parking is $5 for cars and $10 for vans and oversized vehicles. Vehicles will be parked on a first-come, first-serve basis. Vehicles will be allowed to enter through either Gate 6 off Assembly Street, or Gate 10 off Bluff Road. Gates 7, 8 and 9 will be used as exit gates only. No tents, awnings, chairs or grills will be allowed. Gamecock Club hanging tags will not be recognized.

Patrons with a handicap parking tag will enter through Gate 6 and Gate 10 into the Fairgrounds. Handicapped parking is available in designated spots only. There is no handicapped shuttle available to the stadium from the Fairgrounds.

University of South Carolina lots, including Williams-Brice Stadium, Gamecock Park, East Lots A thru D, Key Road and the Armory, will open at 8 a.m. for those fans with appropriate parking passes. First-come, first-serve parking will be available in the Gameday lot inside of Gamecock Park for $40, cash only. Fans should enter off of National Guard Road. Parking is also available at Capital City Stadium for $10. The Capital City Stadium lot will also be open from 2 p.m.-8 p.m. on Friday to accommodate RV parking. First-come, first-serve parking is also available at the WoodStock lot, located at the end of National Guard Road, for $20 beginning at 8:30 am.

Fans without a parking pass are encouraged to park in the lots around the Colonial Life Arena and ride the shuttle to Williams-Brice Stadium. The cost is $3 roundtrip per person. The shuttle service begins at 9 a.m. and runs for 90 minutes after the game.

The State Fair will open at 10 a.m. Fans with a ticket to the football game will be allowed into the Fair for free until noon. There is no Fair re-entry unless your hand is stamped prior to exiting. No football tickets will be honored after the game at the State Fair.

“We anticipate traffic delays around the stadium and fairgrounds,” said Jim Petrus, South Carolina’s Director of Parking Services. “We encourage all fans to arrive as early as possible on Saturday to help alleviate the heavy traffic congestion that will occur closer to game time.” Petrus also noted that traffic on Assembly Street will run both directions before and after the game.

Game time is set for noon between the Gamecocks (2-4, 1-4 SEC) and the Massachusetts Minutemen (1-6). The game will be televised on SEC Network.