Taking place on the Utah County grounds at the corner of Center Street and University Avenue, it was a first-of-its-kind free event put on by Explore Utah Valley and Utah County intended to attract the fanbase to Provo beyond just the gameday stop at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

“We’re all about tourism and bringing in visitors, and we’re trying to get more people downtown and coming into Provo for game weekends,” Explore Utah Valley Executive Director Lee Adamson said. “Instead of just coming to the game and going home, we wanted people to come a night early, stay in a hotel, hike the Y in the morning before the game, eat at our restaurants, and basically just make a weekend of it.” 

As the only First Down Provo event scheduled for this year, it was an event more than a year into the making according to McKella Bunn, a visitor experience specialist at Explore Utah Valley. She said they worked with Utah County Commissioner Skyler Beltran and BYU Community Relations, BYU Alumni, Provo City and Downtown Provo Inc. to make it possible.

Food vendors and booths selling BYU gear from various apparel companies lined the sidewalk. Ben Criddle and ESPN 960 did a live talk show, and live music from 19 Miles Per House gave the scene a concert venue feel.

“We feel like there’s a lot of other universities that do this, and Provo doesn’t have that,” Bunn said. “We knew Provo has such a strong fan base that we wanted to make a free community event. We knew that Cougar Nation would show up. They’re super supportive. We think it’s great that other BYU entities wanted to be involved.”

Organizers said the turnout exceeded expectations, and they’re hoping to try it again once or twice next year, and perhaps build up to it becoming a permanent tradition before home games.

“Whether it’s BYU fans that live in other areas of the country, or the visiting fans, we just want to have this welcoming, fun, festive atmosphere for them when they come for a game,” Adamson said.