If Green Bay had a red carpet, it would be rolled out right now. For one unforgettable long weekend on April 24-26, the smallest city in major professional sports becomes the center of the football universe. The NFL draft is coming to Green Bay next week.

This is a big deal for this town of 105,000 people. New York City had the draft for decades. After that, Las Vegas turned it into a neon circus. The difference is that Green Bay is all about football. It breathes, bleeds and lives it year ’round. This midwestern town gets to host the NFL’s biggest offseason event.

I grew up in the summers in nearby Door County, Wisconsin. The Packers were the subject of conversations everywhere – shops, restaurants and bars, marinas, parks and everywhere else. This is Wisconsin … and it’s Packer Country! I love the area, and I read the Green Bay Press Gazette and two Door County online publications several times each week. The NFL draft has been a major topic for over a year, and the excitement is growing.

We’d love to be there, but we didn’t plan well enough in advance. Hotels, VRBOs and Airbnbs are reserved for miles in every direction. Shuttles will be transporting people from as far away as Milwaukee, La Crosse and Madison. Watch parties will be going on throughout the entire state.

If you want to fly to Green Bay, it’s going to be pricy. Right now, tickets are priced from $600 to $1,200 round trip from Knoxville to Green Bay or Appleton. Then you may have to rent a car. Good luck!

The Main Stage for the draft will be constructed right next to the legendary Lambeau Field, with the team’s Hall of Fame, the Packers Pro Shop and the Packers Heritage Trail all within walking distance. The draft itself will be televised from a custom-built outdoor theater that seats thousands, and still more fans will gather in surrounding areas, soaking in the spectacle on jumbotron screens. Some will camp out all day in lawn chairs just to cheer or boo.

Visitors touring Lambeau Field

Lambeau Field Live will be open all week, serving as an immersive fan experience on the stadium grounds. Inside the atrium, visitors can explore interactive exhibits, player meet-and-greets, and behind-the-scenes NFL experiences. Want to see how fast you can run the 40-yard dash? Ever wonder what it’s like to hold a Lombardi Trophy? It’s all there.

The Packers Tailgate Plaza will be complete with food trucks, beer gardens and local musical groups. Brats, cheese curds, frozen custard and plenty of locally brewed craft beer will be everywhere. This is Wisconsin, after all.

Downtown is where the city is transforming its streets into a “Gridiron District,” complete with pop-up shops, autograph tents and big screens airing the draft. Titletown District, the modern development just west of Lambeau, will have family-friendly games, yoga on the green and even a zip line.

Green Bay, the Titletown City, wasn’t just a sentimental choice by the league – it was strategic. The NFL wanted to bring the draft to a city where it meant something. That’s what makes the Packers unique: they are the only publicly owned franchise in professional sports and there are over 500,000 shareholders. Absent are the billionaire owners. It’s simply a community of diehards who pack Lambeau in zero-degree weather and watch the draft like it’s the Super Bowl. Remember the Ice Bowl in 1967 when Green Bay played the Cowboys for the NFL Championship? It was minus 13 degrees with a wind chill of minus 36 … and the stadium remained packed!!

For Green Bay, hosting the draft isn’t just a point of pride – it’s an economic windfall. City officials estimate that over 250,000 fans will descend on the city over three days, bringing with them hotel bookings and restaurant tabs.

All-pro wide receiver Jordy Nelson

Speaking of restaurants, do you want to taste the best of the best of Wisconsin? The Taste of the Draft is a culinary gala, a tasty but expensive experience on April 23, from 4-7 p.m. at Schreiber Foods headquarters in downtown Green Bay. Hosted by renowned chef Andrew Zimmern (host of the Travel Channel’s “Bizarre Foods”), this event offers attendees a “full supper club experience,” complete with relish trays, old fashioneds and everything in between.

Beyond the culinary delights, the gala serves a noble cause, with proceeds aimed at combating food insecurity among Wisconsin students. Tickets are priced at $800 each and can be purchased through Ticketmaster. Our favorite Wisconsin supper club, the Nightengale of Sturgeon Bay, will be there.

There may even be celebrity sightings like Brett Favre. Will Aaron Rodgers show up? NFL legends, sports stars and possibly Hollywood types will mingle with fans, pose for selfies and hope to get some airtime.

This draft won’t be glitzy like Vegas or flashy like Dallas. And, it will be cold! The temperature at this time of the year is in the 40s and 50s. Temperatures for next weekend are projected to be in the high 50s. There will be lots of flannel shirts, vests and coats.

It’s about more than just dollars and cents. It’s about showing the world that you don’t have to be a major market to be a major part of the NFL. You can have small-town charm and still put on a spectacle worthy of prime time.

Cheers to Green Bay, the little town with the giant heart, ready to host the biggest show in football this side of Super Bowl Sunday. Whether you’re a Packers fan or just a football fan, this is one draft you don’t want to miss. Green Bay isn’t just hosting a draft. It’s hosting a football festival and everyone’s invited.

Bring your Cheesehead. Green Bay is ready.

On TV: the NFL draft begins Thursday, April 24, at 8 p.m. EDT on ESPN, ABC and the NFL Network.

Melanie Staten is a public relations consultant with her husband, Vince.