Super Bowl schedule 2018: Dates and time for the full week

It’s Super Bowl week, and there is a lot to get through before the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles face off at U.S. Bank Stadium. The city of Minneapolis is turning into a full-on circus with thousands of fans flying in for the week, and there will be no shortage of activities to take in.

Before the game kicks off, let’s take a brief look at the biggest events on the calendar this week.

Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis will be the site of “Super Bowl LIVE” presented by Verizon, which is a music festival free to all fans. It is live each day and will stretch six blocks. The highlight, without question, is the evening of music honoring Prince on Monday, Jan. 29. Super Bowl LIVE will run through Sunday, Feb. 4.

One of the main destinations for fans traveling to the city takes place at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The interactive theme park is open to fans of all ages from Jan. 27 to Jan. 29, and again on Jan. 31 to Feb. 3. Fans can do everything from show off their football skills, get autographs from players, and grab a selfie with the Lombardi Trophy.

Formerly called media day, this is the annual press conference spectacle that seems to get more ridiculous by the year. Naturally, the NFL put it on TV and moved it to primetime — it’ll be airing on NFL Network and ESPN2 starting at 8 p.m ET.

Insecure’s Issa Rae is the keynote speaker at the league’s third women’s summit on Feb. 2. The event aims to promote women in sports and how they have, and can continue, to make an impact in the NFL. It will be emceed by Maria Menounos and the dozens of guests include Roger Goodell, Michele Tafoya, Beth Mowins, and DeAngelo Williams.

NFL Play 60 Character Camp (Jan. 29)
Shriners Hospitals Play 60 All-Ability Event (Jan. 29)
Creating A Culture of Care: An Insideout Initiative Event (Jan. 30)
Special Olympics Unified Flag Football Game & Polar Plunge (Jan. 30)
Salute to Service Military Appreciation Day (Jan. 30)
NFL Play 60 Kids’ Day at Super Bowl Experience (Jan. 31)
Play Football Family Festival (Jan. 31)
The Kids Tailgate Party (Jan. 31)
Play Football Middle School Developmental Camp (Feb. 1)
Man of the Year Legacy Reception (Feb. 1)
Man of the Year Fan Forum (Feb. 2)
Play Football High School Day (Feb. 2)
Ross Initiative In Sports For Equality (Rise) Super Bowl Town Hall (Feb. 2)

Even more events can be found here.

NFL Honors is where we learn all the major award winners of the season, including MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and Coach of the Year. We also find out who’s in the Pro Football Hall of Fame 2018 class. The show starts at 9 p.m. and can be seen on NBC — provided you haven’t been spoiled on Twitter, since it’s a pretaped show for some reason.

IT’S THE KITTEN BOWL.

The marathon pregame festivities take up most of the day, with NBC starting its coverage at 1 p.m. ESPN and NFL Network will have their own pregame content running at the same time, so viewers should have plenty of options. Among the events is a concert headlined by Kelly Clarkson and all the pageantry you could ask for from the league’s biggest game.

IT’S THE PUPPY BOWL.

Oh right, there’s a game to play. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., with Pink performing the national anthem and Justin Timberlake headlining the halftime show.