On Saturday, Oct. 29, Villanova’s Campus Activities Team (CAT) and Office of Student Involvement (OSI) held Halloweekend on the Green. There were two parts to the event, the first at the Oreo from 5-8 p.m. and the second on the Campus Green from 8-11 p.m. Students and faculty were invited, along with families from the area, to participate in trick-or-treating, pumpkin painting and more. Later in the evening, students and faculty were invited to food trucks and a beer garden.

Tables were set up around the grass behind the Oreo for trick-or-treating. Sororities and fraternities had tables, along with campus departments like Public Safety. Many families came to campus, and faculty and staff members also brought their families. Children, adults and students sported their best Halloween costumes, from SpongeBob and Patrick to Ariel from “The Little Mermaid.”

In the center of the circle of tables was pumpkin painting, bouncy castles and face painting. CAT’s pumpkin painting table, which was prepared with just under 300 pumpkins, was a big hit and ran out of pumpkins by 7 p.m. Some pumpkins had the classic Jack-O-Lantern painting, while others had the Villanova “V.” Everyone was invited to take their painted pumpkins home with them. Pumpkins could also be entered into a contest.

Julia Ramsey, a member of CAT who was working the pumpkin painting table, explained how the night had been going.

“We had hundreds of pumpkins painted, with a majority of them entered into the pumpkin painting contest,” Ramsey said. “It was so cool to see such an array of designs on the pumpkins.”

The decorations were spooky and right on theme. Projected onto Kennedy Hall was “Happy Halloween” along with pumpkin and bat images. Spider webs were projected onto the roof of the Connolly Center and moving skeletons were projected onto the side of Corr Hall. Trees were lit up in traditional Halloween colors like purple and green. Classic Halloween songs were played all night.

As the evening progressed, the crowd moved from the Oreo to the Campus Green for food trucks, fire pits and more. Even the food trucks were themed, with one of them being ‘The Munchy Machine,’ a play on words with The Mystery Machine from “Scooby Doo.”

There was a live band playing both Halloween-themed and regular music. The food trucks lined the walkway by Austin Hall and Falvey Library. On the green were fire pits with chairs and a bar for those older than 21. There was also an “escape room” truck, which had Halloween themed escape rooms.
Fire pits were open to keep everyone warm as they enjoyed their food and listened to the band.
Senior Erin Welch attended the second portion of the night. Welch tried many different food trucks and got drinks from the beer garden.

“The food was so delicious,” Welch said. “I got chicken and waffles and mac ‘n cheese, which were both so good. The band was a really nice touch and helped keep everyone lively, even though it was pretty cold.”

There were smiles everywhere, and the laughter could be heard from all over campus. CAT and OSI did a great job curating this event, allowing people of many ages, from younger children to students and faculty, to enjoy all the different activities.