SEC Football Fanfare
Encyclopedia
SEC Football Fanfare is an event held in the Georgia World Congress Center
prior to the SEC Championship Game
. Usually held the day before, and the day of the game, Fanfare allows people to enjoy festivities prior to the game. For 2011, the event is due to be held on December 2nd and 3rd.
. The event, sponsored by Dr Pepper
, includes stations around the Center where fans had the opportunity to enjoy different types of the company's signature drink. Lincoln Financial Sports is usually on hand, and usually, including this year, does broadcasts from the various stations around the event, highlighting the different aspects of the festivities. Other activities included in the event included face painting, where for a small prices, people could get their face painted with their team's colors, logo, mascot, or all. Famous former SEC Players were also involved in the event, and fans were given the chance to interact with the famous players by participating in various contests, most involving throwing footballs into targets down the field. Fanfare also includes a large store, in which attendees can purchase apparel and items such as hats, flags, t-shirts, and various novelty items displaying their favorite team's logo and colors. Closing out the event, just a few hours prior to the SEC Championship Game
, the teams participating in the game hold pep rallies near the Fanfare. In 2006, the Arkansas Razorbacks
and the eventual 2007 national champion Florida Gators
both held pep rallys shortly following the end of the Fanfare.
Georgia World Congress Center
The Georgia World Congress Center or GWCC is the major convention center in Atlanta. It is the fourth-largest convention center in the United States at 3.9 million ft2 and hosts more than a million visitors each year. At the time opened in 1976 the Georgia World Congress Center was the first state...
prior to the SEC Championship Game
SEC Championship Game
The SEC Championship Game refers to the game determining the Southeastern Conference's football season champion. The championship game pits the SEC Western Division representative against the Eastern Division representative in a game held after the regular season has been completed. Thus far, nine...
. Usually held the day before, and the day of the game, Fanfare allows people to enjoy festivities prior to the game. For 2011, the event is due to be held on December 2nd and 3rd.
 A ticket from the 2006 SEC Fanfare |
|
| When: | December 1 and 2, 2006 |
|---|---|
| Where: | Georgia World Congress Center |
The event
Festivities in the 2006 SEC Fanfare event included field goal kicking, where people would receive three to four chances to kick a football through a life size inflatable field goal, flag football, where teams of three, four, and five would match up against each other in a small game of football, and an interactive television station including eight to ten televisions in which people could play the recently released NCAA Football 2007 on PlayStation 2'sPlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
. The event, sponsored by Dr Pepper
Dr Pepper
Dr Pepper is a soft drink, marketed as having a unique flavor. The drink was created in the 1880s by Charles Alderton of Waco, Texas and first served around 1885. Dr Pepper was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904 and is now also sold in Europe, Asia, Canada, Mexico, Australia ...
, includes stations around the Center where fans had the opportunity to enjoy different types of the company's signature drink. Lincoln Financial Sports is usually on hand, and usually, including this year, does broadcasts from the various stations around the event, highlighting the different aspects of the festivities. Other activities included in the event included face painting, where for a small prices, people could get their face painted with their team's colors, logo, mascot, or all. Famous former SEC Players were also involved in the event, and fans were given the chance to interact with the famous players by participating in various contests, most involving throwing footballs into targets down the field. Fanfare also includes a large store, in which attendees can purchase apparel and items such as hats, flags, t-shirts, and various novelty items displaying their favorite team's logo and colors. Closing out the event, just a few hours prior to the SEC Championship Game
SEC Championship Game
The SEC Championship Game refers to the game determining the Southeastern Conference's football season champion. The championship game pits the SEC Western Division representative against the Eastern Division representative in a game held after the regular season has been completed. Thus far, nine...
, the teams participating in the game hold pep rallies near the Fanfare. In 2006, the Arkansas Razorbacks
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...
and the eventual 2007 national champion Florida Gators
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
both held pep rallys shortly following the end of the Fanfare.