Its that time of the year when both the South Carolina State Fair and University of South Carolina have to share parking as both the fair and a football game are planned for October 19.
The USC football game against Florida will begin at noon and fans are encouraged to arrive early, the fairgrounds parking lot will open at 9 am for both tailgaters an fair goers. Parking is Parking is $5 in the LMC Fair parking lot.
Vehicles will be parked on a first-come, first-serve basis and cash only will be accepted, with fairgrounds employees handling all parking-related matters in that lot.
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 the fairgrounds through Gate 6 or Gate 10. 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, and Key Road will open at 8 AM for those fans with appropriate parking passes. The Armory lot will also open at 8 AM.
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. Four hundred first-come, first-serve parking spaces are also available at the WoodStock lot, located at the end of National Guard Road, and 120 parking spaces will be available in the South Stadium lot for $20 cash. These lots will also open at 8 AM.
Fans without a parking pass are encouraged to park in the lots around the Colonial Life Arena and ride the free shuttle to Williams-Brice Stadium. The shuttle service begins at 9 AM, three hours prior to the game, and runs for 90 minutes after the game.
The State Fair admission gates will open at 10 AM. Fans with a ticket to the football game will be allowed into the Fair for free until game time. 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, 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.
The South Carolina Gamecocks (3-3, 2-2 SEC) and the No. 9 Florida Gators (6-1, 3-1 SEC) will kick at 12 noon ET. The game will be television nationally on ESPN.
