Hosting a large annual veterans' reunion was perhaps something akin to how in modern times cities compete to host large sporting events like the Super Bowl, NCAA tournament games, or the Olympics...
Southern cities completed fiercely to be chosen by the UCV to host so important an occasion. The winner formed committees to arrange accommodations and entertainment for the veterans and raise the required $20,000 to $100,000. A few even built or expanded an existing arena to house the convention. Huge crowds necessitated such preparations. In 1896 an estimated 100,000 people crowded into Richmond for the reunion. The main thorough-fares of the city became "almost impassable," and the expanded streetcar service proved "totally inadequate." "Every hotel, boarding house, empty store and other possible place for housing strangers is crowded greatly beyond its capacity," noted one reporter. Two years later 60,000 went to Atlanta, and local officials claimed never, not even during the industrial exposition of 1895, to have entertained more people in a four day period. The 1903 reunion in New Orleans outdrew Mardi Gras - strong testimony to public enthusiasm.
Veterans of all classes participated in the reunions. Both the sponsoring cities and local camps tried to make it possible for poorer veterans to attend. The cities often provided free board and lodging, and the camps financed transportation. Veterans, however, made up only a small part of the crowd. Of the reported 140,000 visitors in Dallas for the 1902 reunion, only 12,000 were former soldiers. Wives and children sometimes accompanied the members, and both the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) and Confederate Southern Memorial Association held coincident conventions...
(Ghosts of the Confederacy, by Gaines M. Foster)