Family, friends, food and football: BYU’s tailgating scene
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- Tailgaters play cornhole as part of the pregame festivities prior to the BYU football game against Stanford on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Pizza being tossed for a pregame meal prior to the BYU football game against Stanford on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Family enjoy a good meal while tailgating prior to the BYU football game against Stanford on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- The Hinckley family tailgate involves several generations of family, as seen before the BYU football game against Stanford on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Kent Hinckley has been actively tailgating with his family since 1987, as seen prior to the BYU football game against Stanford on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
Some have been doing it for decades, while others, just a few parking spaces away, have just begun what perhaps could turn into a decades-long event.
It’s the tailgating scene at BYU.
It involves food, games, close friends, but most of all, it involves family.
Meet Kent Hinckley, who has been hosting his own family tailgate since 1987, and maybe even a little before that, according to family members.
“We used to come down from Idaho Falls,” Kent said. “We then moved to Farmington in 1987 and it’s become a regular thing since then. Now all these grandkids have been coming since they’ve been very young and we love it. It’s been a great thing for our family.”
Kent has six children and 21 grandchildren, most of whom live in relatively close proximity to Provo, allowing them to meet up in the parking lot south of LaVell Edwards Stadium a few hours before just about every BYU football game.
“It’s been a long tradition and it’s a cool tradition we’ve grown up with,” said Wendy, one of Kent’s daughters. “I now have my own grandchildren and it’s something we hope to continue to do for a long time.”
The food for the Hinckley family prior to BYU’s versus Stanford was burgers, although the menu changes from week-to-week, according to Wendy.
A few parking spaces down finds Mason, who drives down from Logan, tossing pizza into a portable pizza oven for his family members during his family’s tailgate, something they’ve started recently, although he’s been attending BYU games regularly since 2004.
“I’m up there in Logan, and most of my family is down here close to Provo, so it’s great to meet up,” Mason said. “This is just our second time doing this, but we’re definitely hoping to do it more and start our own tradition, I guess.”
Favorite games Mason cites since acquiring season tickets back in 2004 include BYU’s 26-23 overtime win over Utah back in 2009, the 35-24 win over Boise State in 2015 (when Mitchell Juergens made a miracle catch late in the fourth quarter to secure the win), the double-overtime 26-20 win over Baylor in 2022 and the 2019 thrilling 30-27 overtime win over USC, among many others.
“There’s been so many great games,” Mason and his family said. “We honestly could go on and on. We love BYU football and we hope to see a lot more great games this year and long after that.”
Tossing some cornhole and furiously working to set up live TV in order to view live football during their own sort-of-impromptu tailgating event are Phil Weeks and Kyle Greene and their respective families. Both Phil and Kyle have been attending BYU games for decades, but recently just decided to try out some tailgating.
“We both live very close to the stadium, so we decided, ‘why not?'” Phil said. “As you can see, we’re pros already with the cornhole and setting up a TV that doesn’t work. We’re now assigned parking in the grass area, so we decided it’s a better spot to tailgate, so we’re giving it a shot and we’ll probably start doing it more and more.”
For Phil, he’s been a BYU fan his entire life and has been attending games for about 40 years, always in portal Y, which holds fond memories with many more hopefully on the way.
“It’s so nostalgic for me just to walk into the stadium and get to the same seats I’ve been sitting in since I was a little kid. It’s our spot and we love it,” Phil said. “Every time fall rolls around, and you start to fill that chill in the air is so exciting. It’s the best time of the year. We’re also big basketball fans, and love going to those games. We’re definitely excited about what’s going on with basketball.”
Phil’s family includes his three daughters, with two of those daughters joining with him for the Stanford game while the other is away in college. Kyle’s crew includes four boys and a girl, with the hope of attending BYU games, and perhaps tailgating on a more regular basis for years to come.
“My parents have had tickets since the 1970s, so going to games has been something that’s been a big part of my life ever since I can remember,” Kyle said. “We’re just starting this tailgating thing now, but hopefully we can start doing it most weeks.”
Closer to the stadium finds the Marsh family, whose tailgate is open to anyone and everyone.
“We love to include as many people as possible,” Carrie Marsh, whose family has been doing it for around three years now. “Everyone is welcome. The frustrating thing, for me at least, is that more people don’t do it. We have a great stadium, a great team and it’s so much fun just to enjoy all of it as much as possible.”
BYU’s tailgating scene is famously sparce, at least compared to most scenes around the country, although those who have done it for years, along with those hoping to do a lot more of it, enjoy it immensely.
“It’s part of our family and that’s the best thing,” Kent summed up. “We love being with all of our family as much as we can and this is a great way to do it.”
