COLUMBIA, S.C. — March Madness is coming to Columbia this weekend and there are some pretty great teams that are going to be playing at the Colonial Life Arena.
But if you don’t want to break the bank buying a ticket to one of these games, there are plenty of other exciting things going on that don’t cost a thing.
Thursday, doors open for open practice at 10 a.m. at the Colonial Life Arena. Each of the eight teams scheduled to play here in Columbia have a practice slot time so you can go out to watch them practice for free. Practice slots range from 11 a.m. to 6:20 p.m. Some of the more popular team practices ones, you may want to show up early to: Virginia practice: 1:15-1:55, Duke practice: 3:25-4:05. Full schedule.
Full Coverage: March Madness in Columbia, SC!
Jarrett Dowling with Experience Columbia shared, "This is the perfect chance for anyone who wants to Zion, but can’t necessarily pay the money to get tickets for the whole weekend."
Right next door to the Arena, the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center will be hosting the Fan Fest Experience that is absolutely free and open to the public Thursday as well.
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Senior events coordinator Sara Fordham told us, "It’s a two day free event, we’ve got a ton of great things going on. We’ve got a whole vendor village area with the local vendors from the soda city market, we’ve got a half court sized basketball court that we’re going to be doing different performances on, as well as some giveaway games so like free-throw competitions for all the visitors coming," Fordham shared.
They'll even be live streaming both the games going on in Columbia as well as all of the other ones in the tournament. There will be a bunch of food and beverage vendors as well as a beer garden with beer and wine tastings. Pawley's front porch will also have their food truck out for a quick burger on your way to the games.