Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, and that Saturday is a Penn State home game against Purdue. So the Centre Region Council of Governments moved the holiday. Trick-or-Treat Night is set for 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29, in State College Borough and in College, Ferguson, Halfmoon, Harris and Patton townships. If it rains, the backup is 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30.
That decision fits a larger pattern this fall. Over the 2026 season, the borough and its partners have made a series of small choices about who gets a home-game weekend and on what terms. Trick-or-treat moved to keep children off crowded streets. Overnight street parking in three neighborhoods now costs visitors money. The downtown buses that serve game traffic are now free for everyone. Each change gives a little of the weekend back to people who live here year-round, and each one shapes at least one of the three home weekends left this season.
The three weekends still on the calendar
Penn State has three home dates left after the Oct. 10 USC game. As of today, kickoff times for all three are still listed as TBD.
| Date | Opponent | Kickoff | Also happening nearby |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Purdue | TBD | Bellefonte Fall Festival and Halloween Parade at Talleyrand Park; late-night horror films at The State Theatre |
| Sat., Nov. 14 | Minnesota | TBD | Final Saturday of the North Atherton Farmers Market; Good Shepherd Catholic Church Fall Festival |
| Sat., Nov. 21 | Rutgers | TBD | No confirmed listing yet; the Downtown State College Farmers Market runs Fridays through November |
Until kickoff times are set, nobody can say whether a given Saturday's crowds will build in the morning, the afternoon or the evening. The rules below apply on every home weekend no matter when the game starts.
Why Halloween moved, and the last time it did
The Centre Region COG General Forum voted on the date in late July. Parks and Recreation staff had asked Centre Region police, fire and emergency management representatives for their input first. According to the meeting agenda, StateCollege.com reported, the concerns were "potential traffic, parking, pedestrian safety and emergency response." The safety agencies agreed on Oct. 29.
The Centre Region has moved trick-or-treat before when Halloween landed on a home weekend, but not for a few years. The last time was 2020, when the date moved to Oct. 29 and then had to move again to Nov. 1 because of heavy rain. State College Area School District students also have Oct. 29 and Oct. 30 off for Act 80 days, so trick-or-treat night falls on a day without school.
Centre Region Parks and Recreation's annual Halloween Parade was listed as tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 27 when the trick-or-treat date was announced. Check with Parks and Rec before making plans around it.
The overnight parking rule no longer lifts for football weekends
For years, the borough lifted its "No Parking 2 a.m. to 6 a.m." rule on neighborhood streets during special events like football weekends. That made overnight street parking free for visitors. In July, Borough Council approved a six-month pilot that changes this in the Holmes-Foster, Highlands and College Heights neighborhoods. Under the pilot, the overnight restriction stays in place for anyone who hasn't paid.
The pilot started Aug. 1 and covers Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays on home-game weekends. The rates changed between the council vote and the launch. The Borough's September 2026 newsletter lists the current options, both bought through HONK:
- Saturday Only: $25
- Through 6 a.m. Sunday: $50
These sessions replace the old 24-hour option. New signs with payment instructions are posted in all three neighborhoods. HONK has also been the borough's official parking app for regular meters and lots since Sept. 1. Parking zone numbers stayed the same in the switch.
For people who live on these blocks, three details matter most:
- Residential "R" and "R-1" permits are still valid in their own permit zones.
- The pilot does not open any space where parking was never allowed. It only applies to spaces that are legal during the day and restricted overnight. Parking staff confirmed this after a College Heights resident asked.
- On home-game Saturdays, holders of Beaver, Pugh and Fraser garage permits and McAllister Deck permits may use street commuter zones. That gives downtown workers a place to park when the garages fill up.
The money matters to the borough, too. According to StateCollege.com's coverage of the vote, a Parking Department memo estimated about $38,000 for signs and software integration, plus labor. The memo projected revenue of up to $350,000. Council member Matt Herndon tied the pilot to limits on what the borough is allowed to tax:
"State law prevents us from properly charging visitors to State College for the municipal services that they use... It's important to reiterate that street parking fees go to the general fund. So every dollar this raises is a dollar that we don't have to collect via property tax or income tax."
The pilot runs from August through December. Council and staff will review it in January and decide whether to make it permanent. As of the September newsletter, the borough had not published any results on enforcement or resident response.
Free buses, and the hours that matter
The third change is on CATA's game-day service. New for 2026, the Downtown Shuttle has been replaced by the Blue Loop and White Loop, and both are fare-free for all riders. On game days, both loops run on detours all day. The extended route to the Bryce Jordan Center, next to Beaver Stadium, runs from three hours before kickoff until one hour after the game ends.
The Blue Loop runs clockwise and the White Loop runs counterclockwise. Both serve downtown hotels, the downtown garages and campus. When the game-time routing ends, the loops keep running on their regular schedules: the Blue Loop until 12:30 a.m. and the White Loop until 2:30 a.m. For live tracking, choose "BL Gameday" or "WL Gameday" in the myStop app or at realtime.catabus.com.
The South Atherton Shuttle serves the hotels along South Atherton Street and several park-and-ride areas. These include spaces behind the Giant at Hills Plaza and on-street parking in Windmere Park along Rolling Ridge Drive and Windmere Drive. Parking in private business lots there is prohibited. Riders can also use on-street parking along or near South Atherton Street, University Drive and Easterly Parkway. The shuttle only stops at signs marked "Game Day Shuttle South Atherton," and after the game it runs one way from the Bryce Jordan Center.
What campus closures looked like most recently
Penn State posts parking and traffic details separately for each game. The USC notice is the most recent example, and it shows the scale of what to expect. It is not the plan for Purdue, Minnesota or Rutgers. For the Oct. 10 game, Penn State's notice closed the Jordan East, Stadium West, Porter North and Porter South commuter lots, along with several Orange, Yellow and Silver lots, starting at midnight Friday. Vehicles left there after 2 a.m. Saturday could be towed. Curtin Road was closed between Bigler Road and Porter Road all day. One-way restrictions began at 5 p.m. on Park Avenue, Porter Road and nearby roads. Drivers heading to central campus were directed to come in from College Avenue by way of Shortlidge Road or Burrowes Road.
On the state road side, PennDOT's 511PA site has a football travel page for 2026. It shows travel times and alerts for four approach zones: West, via Atherton Street and Park Avenue; East, via U.S. 322, I-99 and Park Avenue; North, via Fox Hollow Road; and South, via University Drive and Porter Road. The page is updated Thursday through Monday around each home game.
All of this happens around a stadium that is under construction. As the Centre Daily Times reported in January, the $700 million Beaver Stadium renovation was on track for completion in fall 2027, with the permanent west-side upper bowl, suites and press box scheduled for construction during 2026. Penn State has said capacity is expected to stay above 100,000 throughout construction. The crowd size won't drop while the work goes on, which is part of why the borough is now planning around it.
Saturdays somewhere other than Beaver Stadium
Oct. 31. Bellefonte has its own Halloween Saturday. The Centre Daily Times lists Bellefonte's Fall Festival and Halloween Parade on Oct. 31. The parade forms at 10 a.m., and the festival runs from noon to 5 p.m. at Talleyrand Park. A separate StateCollege.com listing describes the Bellefonte Area Rotary's Talleyrand Fall Fest on the train-station and gazebo side of the park, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. that day. The two listings give different hours, so confirm times before you go. Back downtown, The State Theatre is showing Halloween at 10 p.m. on Oct. 31, followed by Evil Dead II at midnight, according to the same CDT roundup. That roundup also puts Downtown State College Fall Fest on Oct. 3, so there is no downtown festival competing with the game on Halloween.
Nov. 14. This is the last market day of the season for the North Atherton Farmers Market. The market runs Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Home Depot lot, and its 2026 season runs May 16 through Nov. 14. The same morning, the Good Shepherd Catholic Church Fall Festival runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 867 Grays Woods Blvd. in Port Matilda, with crafts, household items, baked goods and food trucks.
Nov. 21. No events for the Rutgers Saturday have been confirmed yet. The closest regular option is the day before. The Downtown State College Farmers Market runs Fridays from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. through November.
If you're weighing a home in Highlands, Holmes-Foster or College Heights, the January parking review will affect how football weekends work on that street. I'm happy to walk through what home games look like on any block you're considering. Theresa Layton works with buyers across State College and Centre County. Let's Connect.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
