San Francisco Giants: Five Tips for Making your FanFest Experience Better
By Neil Povio
This Saturday, February 7th, the San Francisco Giants and KNBR will hold their 22nd annual FanFest. If you’re looking for tips and more information about FanFest on February 7th, then you’ve come to the right place!
FanFest is a free event at AT&T Park this Saturday, and runs from 10am to 3pm. FanFest is a symbol of the beginning of baseball season, which sparks excitement and rallies many diehards that look forward to the beauty of the Spring, Giants baseball, and trying to get autographs from their favorite players. Here are five tips for making your FanFest experience more enjoyable:
Tip #1: Be prepared!
If you’re at FanFest for autographs, make sure you have your pen and item to be autographed prepared (bat, ball, picture, etc.). Check out the FanFest stadium map before Saturday to set up a plan for your autographs or to plan your whole day at FanFest. Be prepared for the madness! After the 2012 Word Series there were just over 40,000 fans at FanFest. After another World Series win, expect to see even more fans packed into AT&T Park, even with the rain this Saturday.
Tip #2: Arrive early!
Even with the rain this Saturday (which will not cancel or cut short the event) there will be a huge crowd attending. The Giants are coming off their third World Championship in five years, which will draw even more fans to FanFest . Fans will begin lining up Friday night, with the majority of fans showing up around sunrise. Although the event doesn’t start until 10am, do not wait until 10am to show up if you’re looking to get multiple autographs and enjoy the rest of the FanFest events, which includes multiple fan interactive Q & A’s with the players, playing catch on the field, touring the dugouts and broadcast booth, and taking a picture with the THREE World Series trophies.
Tip #3: Don’t worry about lunch
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The Giants will have many concession stands open throughout the stadium. The Giants do allow you to bring your own food and beverages into the stadium (following the same guidelines during game days), but if you don’t want to bring in your own meal or drinks and would rather take on the full AT&T Park experience, then you can get some garlic fries, chicken strips, hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, beer, and many other items at the concessions.
Tip #4: Stay in line if you really want an autograph
If you’re in line for an autograph, and really do want a signature from a player, then stay in your current line. The players do switch booths every 30-45 minutes so if you’re toward the back of the line, you’re not getting the signature of the current player at the booth. Don’t try following them to a new booth either because the same problem will occur again. Just be happy with whoever’s signature you do get. You might get lucky and get the signature of a starter like Buster Posey, Matt Cain, Hunter Pence, or Madison Bumgarner, but you’re more likely to spend hours in line getting the signature of a second string player, former player, or a coach. If that reality doesn’t appease you, then you’re probably better off enjoying the day walking around the stadium, taking in the sights and sounds of the upcoming season, checking out the available tours and the player Q & A’s, and getting your picture with the trophies.
Also, for a courtesy of everyone, DO NOT save spots or cut in line. Everyone just wants to have fun and enjoy their day. Many of the people there will have been waiting in line outside the stadium for hours on top of their hours of waiting in the autograph lines. Please be kind and not rude to other fans. Ushers will kick you out of line and send you all the way to the back if you’re caught saving a spot or cutting in line.
Tip #5: Tickets!
If you want to ensure that you can go to one of the special event games this season that you have your eyes on (like bobblehead give-away games) then make sure to stop by one of the ticket sales booths during FanFest. Tickets go on sale at 8am on Saturday, so again, get there early for tickets too. If you’re not there early, then stop by before you leave FanFest at one of the ticket booths to purchase tickets.
Hopefully these tips were helpful and your 2015 FanFest experience is a great one!