The Southern Heritage Classic is Memphis' biggest football weekend that has nothing to do with the Tigers — a two-day, city-wide celebration built around the September showdown between Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Alcorn State.

Now in its 37th year, it's grown into one of the largest HBCU Classics in the country, with tailgates, a neighborhood parade, a battle of the bands and a fashion show all stacked around Saturday night's kickoff at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.

Here's the full lineup for Sept. 11-12, 2026 — every event, every ticket price, and where to stay if you're coming from out of town.

Want to skip straight to the main event? Game tickets are $23, $38 or $53 (plus fees) on Ticketmaster.

Last updated September 2026. Schedule subject to change. Always confirm times with the official Southern Heritage Classic events page before you go.

Everything below comes straight from the Classic's official schedule — subject to change without notice.

📍 Memphis Sports & Events Center, 995 Early Maxwell Blvd. (Liberty Park)
🕐 8:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.
💰 Free

Presented by the City of Memphis Office of Youth Services, this is where regional colleges and area employers set up shop to talk to students about admissions and jobs. A good, low-key way to kick off Classic weekend if you're bringing teenagers. Info: (901) 636-6264.

📍 Renasant Convention Center, Grand Ballroom
🕐 Noon
💰 Invitation only

The formal salute to both head coaches — Arkansas-Pine Bluff's Alonzo Hampton and Alcorn State's Cedric Thomas — with HBCU GO co-founder Curtis Symonds as guest speaker. Not open to the general public, but it's the traditional kickoff to Classic weekend for Memphis' HBCU alumni and business community.

📍 Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium parking lots & Tiger Lane
🕐 8 a.m.
💰 General lot tailgating included with parking; premium packages sold separately via Ticketmaster

Get there early. Tiger Lane and the stadium lots fill in fast with grills, tents and pop-up band sets hours before kickoff — "Friends, Food and Football" is the Classic's own tagline for it, and it's not an exaggeration.

Want the upgraded version? Premium tailgate packages are sold separately. Get tailgate packages here.

📍 Tunica National Golf & Tennis
🕐 8 a.m.
💰 $800 per 4-man team

The Classic's golf-course cousin — a four-man shamble that runs alongside the weekend's main events, with a shirt and gift bag for every player. Niche, but it's part of the official slate if your crew is more country club than tailgate. Info: (901) 265-4886.

Register your team here.

📍 Park Avenue, from Haynes to Airways (Orange Mound)
🕐 9 a.m.
💰 Free to watch

Presented by the Orange Mound Community Parade Committee, this is where Memphis' own high school marching bands get their moment before the visiting bands take the stadium that night. It's a neighborhood institution, not a roped-off spectacle — grab a spot along Park Avenue early.

📍 Whitehaven High School Stadium
🕐 10 a.m.
💰 $12 advance / $15 day-of

The area's best high school show bands go head-to-head with full dance-line routines — a Classic-weekend tradition of its own for band families and majorette fans, separate from that night's halftime show at the main game.

Tickets aren't sold online. To get them, call Walter Banks Jr. at (901) 497-2015 or Vincent Smith at (901) 831-7624, or pay $15 at the gate.

📍 The Great Hall, 1900 S. Germantown Rd.
🕐 11 a.m.
💰 $100

Presented by the National Coalition of 100 Black Women's Memphis chapter, this is the dressed-up midday stop on the Classic circuit — brunch, runway and a room full of Memphis' HBCU alumnae network.

Tickets are $100, by phone only: (901) 218-2775 or (901) 568-4021.

📍 Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium
🕐 6 p.m.
💰 $23 / $38 / $53 + fees, reserved seating, via Ticketmaster

The main event — the 37th meeting between the two programs. UAPB's Marching Musical Machine of the Mid-South squares off with Alcorn's Sounds of Dyn-O-Mite in the AutoZone Halftime Show, and the night closes with the Classic 5th Quarter, a battle-of-the-bands finale after the final whistle.

Reserved seats are $23, $38 or $53 plus fees, and they only get harder to find as Saturday gets closer.

Where to buy: Game tickets and tailgate packages are on Ticketmaster. Golf registers online. Battle of the Bands and the Fashion Show are by phone (numbers above).

The official host hotels are the Weston Hotel Downtown (UAPB) and the Marriott East (Alcorn State) — ask for the Southern Heritage Classic rate.

Other options with group rates include: The Peabody Hotel, Hyatt Centric Beale St., Aloft Downtown, or Canopy Memphis Downtown if you want to be near Beale Street

DoubleTree, Embassy Suites and Hilton Memphis are on the east side, closer to Liberty Stadium itself.

Book early — Classic weekend fills Memphis hotels fast.

Full list with reservation links: southernheritageclassic.com/events/hotels.

The Classic dates to 1990, founded by Fred Jones Jr., and has drawn more than 1.5 million fans through the gates since. It's grown well beyond a football game into one of Memphis' signature cultural weekends, with a national platform that's sent dozens of former Classic players on to the NFL. Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium is contracted to host it every second Saturday in September through 2032.

👋 Catch something we missed — a parking tip, a can't-miss tailgate spot, an updated time? Reply to any 901 Today email and we'll add it to the next update.

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