Everyone grows up at some point, right?

Once known for throwing one of the most debaucherous day-drinking parties in the mid-Atlantic, the Preakness Stakes has evolved into an increasingly tamer — and less-attended — event.

This weekend, as Baltimore’s Triple Crown race closes a chapter at Pimlico Race Course ahead of a major renovation, the infield party will reach its own conclusion of sorts — from a once-polarizing, free-for-all spectacle that attracted more than 100,000 people annually to a ticketed event that is expected to draw just a fraction of its attendance heights.

Let’s remember how we got here.

I‘ve heard stories about the BYOB era at Preakness. Was it really that wild?

In a word: yes. The race’s infield party became a thing in the 1970s, then grew increasingly lawless and intoxicated in the ’80s and ’90s when college students and 20-somethings tested the limits of public decency and the event’s “bring your own booze” policy. Attendees huddling around quickly depleted kegs of beer and sitting on beat-up couches and other furniture they hauled in themselves were regular sights.

For many, the race was simply an excuse to binge drink under the spring sun. The running joke was infield attendees went to Preakness and didn’t see a horse.

One, however, infamously did. The low point came in 1999, when a partygoer from Bel Air named Lee Chang Ferrell made his way onto the track, stood in front of oncoming horses and took a swing at one named Artax. Ferrell was arrested and banned from Maryland Jockey Club properties.

Did I hear something about portable toilets?

The death knell for the infield party’s BYOB policy came during the latter 2000s, when revelers ran across long rows of portable toilets for … fun? Naturally, ground-level attendees both cheered and pelted them with beer cans.

News outlets covered the “Running of the Urinals,” cementing the Preakness party atmosphere as one of a kind, for better or worse. Here’s one example of many:

Organizers ended the BYOB policy in 2009 — the first major sign that the old days of the infield would stay in the hedonistic past.

What came next for the infield?

In 2009, Preakness debuted InfieldFest, ushering in a new era for the party.

A noticeably more organized effort, the new event resembled a single-day music festival, with A-list music acts (Lorde, Nas, Childish Gambino and Maroon 5, to name some artists) and the “Mug Club,” which gave attendees a plastic cup they could refill with beer.

It was still a drunken party with tens of thousands of people but felt less rowdy and more commercialized.

Oh, and who could forget Kegasus, InfieldFest‘s short-lived mascot? The beer-bellied centaur introduced in 2011 disgusted then-state Del. Pat McDonough, never caught on and was retired in 2013.

Glad I missed (or forgot) that. So what’s happening this year?

Preakness’ music festival era has come to a close, at least for 2025.

In its place is a slimmed-down, 21-plus area called Infield Fan Zone, hosted by former Baltimore Raven Ray Lewis. The 22,000-square-foot tented space will accommodate approximately 3,000 people and feature DJ sets from Compton Cowboys, Jordan Emanuel and Baltimore’s Teddy Beats. Tickets are on sale for $95 (plus fees) and include bottomless wine and beer.

Meanwhile, Grammy Award winners T-Pain and Wyclef Jean are scheduled to perform at a new stage located trackside just north of the cupola and beneath an LED board. It should be said, however, that these performances will be viewable to those in the grandstand and certain VIP areas, while Fan Zone attendees will have to watch a livestream on screens inside the tent.

I can’t make Saturday’s race. Are there other events going on?

You’re in luck. Organizers have turned the 150th Preakness Stakes into a weeklong affair called the Preakness Festival.

Tuesday night, there’s an art opening and reception in Canton for Baltimore artist Jeffrey Kent, whose new work honors George “Spider” Anderson, the first Black jockey to win Preakness.

On Wednesday, DJ D-Nice’s Club Quarantine 5 Live takes over Pier Six Pavilion with a star-studded lineup including Ari Lennox, Jadakiss, Deborah Cox, Chanté Moore, Too Short and many more. The performers will be accompanied by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and conductor Igmar Thomas.

Click here for more Preakness Festival events.