Tailgating — one of the few college pastimes that is perfectly set up for memories full of food, friends and the consumption of a variety of beverages.

On the grass across the street from Jack Trice Stadium, a few Saturdays a month, throngs of students gather to tailgate — and they don’t hold back. They gorge themselves on hot dogs, chips and whatever else they brought. The cheers from the stadium can barely be heard over the screams of happiness and excitement from winning a game of Bean Bag Toss or Beer Pong.

The best of it all is the get-ups students walk around in for several hours. In public. Sometimes things they wouldn’t be caught dead walking across Central Campus in, like superhero outfits and mullet wigs.

They spend hours coming up with ideas of how to look crazier and more amusing than the next person. Sometimes it’s a few trips to Wal-Mart, and sometimes it takes hours of sewing, with pin-pricked fingers and seams a textiles and clothing major would laugh at.

It’s amusing, what these 18 to 24 year olds put on, as if they were attending a cardinal-and-gold-themed carnival. Maybe it is like a carnival, with custom-made keg grills and meticulously painted school buses.

To document and exploit the costumes ISU students bring to early morning tailgates, the Daily went out and took some photos.

Enjoy, and remember to look for your friends.

The Gallery