SAN ANTONIO – Preparations are underway ahead of the NCAA Men's Final Four festivities that begin Friday.
Mary Japhet of the San Antonio Local Organizing Committee for NCAA's Men's Final Four took KSAT 12 behind the scenes of where organizers are building the stages at the Hemisfair.
"This is the main stage, where Maroon 5, Imagine Dragons and all the other big national acts will perform," Japhet said. “Over here there will be entertainment, VIP and other stuff. There will be a lot of vendors out and about.”
Japhet said there will also be another stage, where local and regional acts will perform.
The NCAA March Madness Music Festival is free and open to the public.
There are several events, including the Final Four Fest at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. There will be interactive games, special celebrity and athlete appearances, autograph signings and much more.
Japhet said they anticipate more than 93,000 visitors coming to the Alamo City and recommends people to download their APP.
The app will have push notifications and have music festival updates. The app has a full scheduled of events from the date, time, and location of all the Final Four events. Japhet said one the most important features is the interactive maps of San Antonio and the multiple ways for getting around town for free and also pre-pay parking.
"Downtown parking, prepay parking, you can actually prepay at downtown lots in advance,” Japhet said. “I really believe in park and ride. Park and ride will be an enormous help for everyone.”
While the Hemisfair grounds are packed with workers, you can also find many visitors around the three-dimensional bracket located at the corner of Market and Alamo Street. The bracket has been updated after each round of play as teams move through the tournament.
"I'm going for Loyola. I used to play in the same conference as the star Freshmen Cameron Krutwig. So I think with their passing and their defensive adjustment that they make from game to game they have a really good chance in pulling off the upset and going to the championship game,” Steve Bell, Visitor said.
"I'm going for Loyola of Chicago," Tom Sawyer, Visitor said. "They are the no name team, and I want to see it get it done.”
Whether your in town for the game or festivities, Japhet said visitors will see what makes San Antonio great.
"I think what all our visitors will see is that San Antonio is a diverse welcoming community. We are fan friendly and we are a fan favorite," Japhet said.