Thanksgiving Tailgate & Watch Party on the River Plus Free Shuttle to THE GAME
On Thursday, November 27, the Town of Phillipsburg and the Phillipsburg Urban Enterprise Zone will host a Pre-Game Tailgate and Big-Screen Watch Party featuring food, fun, community and a giant screen on which to watch the game.
Held on Riverside Way at the foot of the Free Bridge, the Thanksgiving Day party is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. and will run until 2 p.m. – or whenever the game and the Phillipsburg victory celebration ends.
Kickoff for the Big Game between Phillipsburg and Easton is set for 10:30 a.m. at Lafayette College’s Fisher Stadium, which seats 13,132 and sells out quickly each year.
For those unable to get tickets, the game will be televised live courtesy of WFMZ on the giant screen at the Riverside Way location.
For those who have tickets, a free shuttle will provide transportation to and from the game.
“With 100-plus years of tradition at our backs and a 100-plus parking spots in our lot, we’re starting a new Thanksgiving Day game tradition,” said Patrick Kays, who heads Phillipsburg’s Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ) program and is also Director of Municipal Services & Community Development. “If you have tickets c’mon by and park the car, enjoy some pre-game food as well as a free ride to and from the game in our Stateliner Trolley. No fighting traffic, no parking, no problem.” He continued, “If you don’t have tickets, even better – cause we’re having a Big Screen Watch Party down by the river. Bring yourselves, some chairs and enough P’Burg spirit so they can hear us from across the bridge.”
The Game
Billed as the 118th Championship of the Delaware River, Easton leads the all-time series 68-44-5 (the earliest games were not played on Thanksgiving). Though Easton won last year’s game in overtime (17-14), Phillipsburg has won two of the last three.
The interstate rivalry game on Thanksgiving Day between the two teams is believed to be the oldest in the nation, starting in 1916. The subject of a professional documentary, Tradition: An Easton & Phillipsburg Story (2023), the game has also been broadcast to a national audience at least twice by ESPN, with the last one coming in 2006 for the 100th meeting of the two teams.
“Thanksgiving is a great day to be a Stateliner,” said Phillipsburg Mayor Randy Piazza. “It’s a time to see old friends and family and this event will make it even better because it will bring even more of us together. And, as a vibrant and diverse community, there’s at least one thing we can all agree on: Beat Easton.”
Information provided to TVL by:
Liz Wyant
