CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The 86th running of Buc Days is now in the history books, and from early reports, it looks like it was bigger and better than ever.
This year's organizers tried a few new ideas to include existing attractions in the area who have been cut off by Buc Days' carnival grounds in the past.
One partnership included admission to the two main museums in the SEA District in the price of a Buc Days ticket.
The result was a boost for both the Corpus Christi Science and History Museum and the Art Museum of South Texas.
"We did see an uptick in visitors," Paulina Manseau with the Science and History Museum said. "A lot of people that have probably never been here so we really enjoyed seeing a lot more people come in. Would love to see more next year, more visitors, so we're looking forward to that."
Manseau said since this was the first year, it was the first time the museum had been opened on weekends in the evening.
The Art Museum of South Texas had a similar turnout of new visitors according to Clay Reuters with the museum.
"I think often they were local visitors who just hadn't made it to the museum before, so I think the added incentive of Buc Days and then that partnership where once they were in Buc Days itself they could come in for free, really encouraged them to get into our doors," Reuters said.
Both museums were able to feature exhibits that tied in with the rodeo and hope to tie in exhibits to next year's Buc Days schedule.
"To use it as an opportunity for those people that maybe are drawn in by things like the rodeo and might not necessarily be thinking about art, but them be able to surprise them with art that is of interest to them," he said. "As you can see here, our exhibition is timed perfectly for the rodeo and all of Buc Days."
Manseau said the museums expect to meet with Buc Days officials for a review and come up with ideas for next year like including more vendors outside both museums.
"Get together and see how we come up with ways to improve visitation," she said. "That's always something that we would like to explore."
Buc Days president and CEO Johnny Philipello said they raised a record breaking $250,000 for scholarships this year.
Once all the revenues are counted, the Buccaneer Commission will spread what's left as gifts and grants to colleges and universities in South Texas.