CLEMSON — You can walk around downtown, pace through parking lots and cruise the sidewalks on any given Saturday when the Clemson Tigers hit Death Valley, and you’ll see a lot of the same things.

Included in this plethora of similarities will be orange T-shirts, tiger paw coolers, Clemson folding chairs, grilling goods and lots of folks enjoying the camaraderie of people wanting to have a great time.

In honor of this year’s Homecoming, the game against Duke will only be one of many things the university has planned to show everyone an exciting time over the weekend.

To start things off tonight, Friday, get pumped up at Tigerama, an annual festival that entered the books in 1957.

“Tigerama is half as old as the university,” said Maddie Stoddard, event director. “For something to go on each year as long as this has, it shows that people really look forward to it.”

Stoddard — who worked with the Blue Key Honor Society all year long to complete the plans for Tigerama — is pleased to announce that plenty of fresh ideas have been added to the festival set-list.

“We are holding a canned food drive,” Stoddard said. “With so many people attending, it’s a great place to try and help others in the community.”

Tons of entertainment is lined up for the 51st annual Tigerama, including appearances from Dabo Swinney and the Clemson baseball team who will be out signing autographs.

The wide range of acts will begin taking the stage at 7 p.m. in the Littlejohn Coliseum, but before the musical and comedic performers showcase their talents, “Tigerama Tailgate” welcomes all ages to take advantage of free food, inflatables, face painting and various demos.

“People are going to set up on Littlejohn’s lawn, and we are going to have karate, shag dance and gymnastics demonstrations beginning at 5 p.m.,” Stoddard said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun for everyone, and hopefully encourage them to come earlier and stay longer.”

Professors of Soul will be entertaining the masses during the tailgate, while various vendors will be on hand selling goods.

For those who get their hands on a ticket — $6 for students, $7 for non-students and $8 at the door — they can count on seeing the Delta Sigma Theta Step Team get down on the court, harmonizing with the Tiger Roar, an all male acapella group, jiving with the Clemson Steel Drum Band, a powerful act with a Caribbean flare and get fired up with the Clemson Rally Cats. Seneca High School’s Honors Chorale and a gospel choir will also carry their tunes to everyone in attendance.

“Each group is so fantastic,” Stoddard said. “It’s going to be a real treat.”

In addition to all of the music, different comedic skits will be performed with the hopes of striking every funny bone in the coliseum seats.

“People have put in a lot of time to make these skits as good and as funny as possible,” Stoddard said. “It’s not something that was just thrown together last minute.”

And throughout the show, Perry Tuttle — 1981 Tiger who threw the winning catch to clinch the national title — will be emceeing the event.

“To me, Tigerama encapsulates the spirit of Clemson and its community,” Stoddard said. “It’s a great avenue for families to explore, and it caters to everyone.”

To wrap up the one-of-a-kind night, Miss Homecoming 2008 will be crowned and a spectacular fireworks display will bring the show to an official close.

And as another year of Tigerama comes and goes, the tradition can be traced back to Joe Sherman, retired director of Clemson News.

“I got the idea for Tigerama while I was at the University of Florida," said Sherman. "Florida had this big student talent show the night before Homecoming called 'Gator Growl,' and when I came back to Clemson in 1956, I persuaded the alumni council to fund a show just like it.”

Tigerama is the second biggest student run rally in the nation, still behind UF’s Gator Growl.

“We hope to see lots of smiling faces enjoying themselves at Tigerama ’08,” Stoddard said.