College students from across the state will travel to Tuscaloosa to vie in Alabama’s inaugural Red Bull Chariot Race.

University Boulevard between Wallace Wade Avenue and 12th Avenue will be blocked off Saturday, allotting a race area.

The weekend proceedings will kick off tonight at Rounders on The Strip with a pre-party. Race day, people’s choice voting will open at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

The competition will begin at 3:30 p.m. An after-party will be held at Gallettes.

Participants are encouraged to allow their creativity to dominate the design of their chariot. However, participants are not allowed to design a chariot with a motor.

Prior to the launch of the race, teams of three members will find motivation from their preferred theme song. They are also invited to perform a skit to prepare their audience.

Alex McCallum, a senior majoring in business, is a member of the team “Step Brothers,” based on the Will Ferrell movie.

McCallum and his two team members chose the song “Boats N’ Hoes” from the movie as their theme.

He and his comrades plan on dressing accordingly as Ferrell and his stepbrother, played by John C. Reilly.

“It’s my favorite movie, and the song was great for our skit,” McCallum said.

McCallum plans on constructining his chariot to resemble the boat in the movie.

“The bottom part is going to be two-by-four boards, and we are going to try and get the wheels from a wheelchair or bike tires,” McCallum said. “We are also going to bring water guns to distract the other teams.”

Stephanie Adcox, a junior majoring in accounting, plans on attending the event.

“I think this sounds like so much fun – it will definitely be an unusual Saturday in Tuscaloosa,” Adcox said. “I wish I was creative enough to construct a chariot so I could be in the race, but I just don’t think that I could create a structure that would be strong enough to hold up several people.”

Baley Bodden, a sophomore majoring in marketing and entrepreneurship, is the team captain of the “Rum Runners.”

“We plan on doing a tropical theme,” she said. “We are going to wear Hawaiian shirts and hopefully build our chariot accordingly.”

Bodden said she has worked with many Red Bull events on campus and is looking forward to this weekend.

“I have done a lot of stuff with Red Bull in the past, but having the first Chariot Race in the state is going to be huge. I am excited about everything,” Bodden said. “I can’t wait to see what the other teams come up with, and actually racing the chariot is going to be so much fun.”