BATON ROUGE — The LSU football team will participate in a day-long celebration of its 2003 college football national championship on Saturday, beginning with a parade in downtown Baton Rouge and culminating with a celebration in Tiger Stadium.
The Tigers will appear in “The Parade of Champions” in downtown Baton Rouge starting at noon, and then will participate in the National Championship Celebration at Tiger Stadium starting at 3:30 p.m.
“The Parade of Champions” will feature the LSU Tigers, national champions of college football, and Southern University, winners of the Black College National Football Championship.
The parade will begin at noon and will include the teams, coaches, bands and administrators of each university. The Parade of Champions will start at the corner of Spanish Town Road and North Fourth Street. It will proceed south on North Fourth Street, turn right at North Boulevard, then roll north on Third Street. It will conclude with a ceremony at the State Capitol.
The National Championship Celebration at Tiger Stadium will start at 3:30 p.m. and will include the presentation of bowl game and championship trophies to the LSU football team, video highlights of the football season, performances by the Tiger Marching Band and comments from University officials, head coach Nick Saban and Tiger players.
The day will conclude with the hoisting of a new National Championship flag to fly over Tiger Stadium.
Tailgating on the LSU campus is encouraged and shuttle buses will be available beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, running from North Stadium Drive next to Tiger Stadium to downtown Baton Rouge. Parking lots will be open for tailgating, including Touchdown Village, at 5 p.m. on Friday.
Fans are encouraged to visit Celebration Central, a tent city in the west stadium parking lot (Lot A), where entertainment will be provided as well as giveaway items. Food and drink will be available for purchase and official national championship merchandise will be on sale.
LSU advises fans that, due to the expected large attendance, this event is not intended to be an autograph opportunity. LSU encourages fans to bring still and video cameras to record the event for their remembrance of the occasion.