Halloween is one of the most anticipated weekends of the year in Athens.
This year’s festivities includes events for students, families and visitors. There are many ways to celebrate during the weekend, the largest event is the Athens Halloween Block Party on Saturday, held on Court Street.
The Athens Clean and Safe Halloween Committee lends volunteer work to help put on the block party. The annual gathering began in 1974 and has historically brought crowds as large as 30,000, the website states.
Afternoon celebrations begin with a family-friendly party from 1-4 p.m., featuring a musical petting zoo, crafts, games, candy and more. At 5:45 p.m., Court Street welcomes people, musicians and vendors for the block party, which ends early the following morning.
In addition to the block party, Athens’ students and residents typically celebrate at house parties and bars on Court Street. As the fun commences, these Halloween events are not without their infrastructure issues.
“The event area is going to be closed off ... parking and some road closures are probably the biggest infrastructure issues that we’ve come across,” Nick Magruder, chief of police at the Athens City Police Department, said.
For partygoers who are commuting by car, limited paid street parking will be available, as well as the E. Washington Street parking garage. To avoid the chaos of uptown, the Athens County Fairgrounds will also have spaces available for $20.
Magruder said the Athens City Police Department spends six to eight weeks prior to Athens' Halloween weekend preparing for the celebration.
“We start having conversations about what the plan is, what Athens is going to look like, trying to figure out what else is going on around the area,” Magruder said.
Plans include reviewing the football schedules of other Ohio teams and talking to local organizations, Magruder said.
All Bobcats living in the residential halls on campus are affected by the weekend festivities, regardless of their participation. Ohio University Housing and Residence Life plans for all students in the halls to attend informational meetings before the weekend, where rules for guests and entering the dorms are discussed.
For security, all residents and guests must wear wristbands all weekend to gain entry to the resident buildings, which will all be locked aside from the respective main entrances.
Wristband monitoring and locked entrances begin Friday at 5 p.m. and end Sunday at noon. Guests must pay a $50 fee for staying in the halls, and there is a disciplinary charge of up to $100 for students who violate the fee. Residents can have one guest per room, a rule that has been changed this year. Previously, students were allowed one guest per student.
“I think it’s smart to limit the number of guests that come on campus,” Jenna Klein, a sophomore studying hearing, speech and language sciences, said. “But I do get the frustration when people want more than one guest.”
Klein said she is having a registered guest stay in her dorm this weekend.
This form of crowd control has grown more important as the OU student population grows. The university stated the current Athens campus population is the largest it has ever been. For the 2025-26 school year, OU admitted a record-breaking number of 4,550 first-year students.
This number has resulted in various precautions and safety regulations for students, like limiting guests, which are sure to help with the already large influx of students and town residents celebrating. This weekend, it is most important to have a plan and prioritize safety.
“Take some precautions to be safe ... having a charged cellphone, knowing where your friends are ... hydrating,” Nicole George-O'Brien, a 1998 alumna, said.
Halloween weekend holds fun for everyone, and for several students and locals, Athens is one of the best places in the state to celebrate the holiday.
