ECU, UCSB, UNC And Ohio University Big Block Parties
Give college students any reason to party and they will do it in grand style.
Some take it to the extreme and here are places where huge block parties take priority on Halloween over things like, say, going to study at the library.
Unless students are in one of those towns with a college bar called The Library, like in Austin for the University of Texas.
– Top Halloween Party College Schools –
– OHIO UNIVERSITY –
There’s a reason the University of Ohio is one of PubClub.com’s Top Party Schools (#7). It’s the annual Halloween party.
To quote a student, “Where else do they have a Halloween party where the city literally doubles in size and roughly 20 bars in a three-block stretch uptown? Athens, of course!!”
– UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA –
Even without Halloween, Franklin Street is one of the best college party places in America. Add in the excuse of Halloween and it become absolutely an all-out blast.
About 75,000 people head to the street. It’s an official event (with a large police presence but they are only looking for trouble, not causing it), that runs from 9 p.m.-1:30 a.m. It peaks at midnight.
– EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY –
The football team once disguised themselves as patsies and upset some major-college teams. But there’s no disguising the fact that East Carolina University has a Halloween scene to rival that of Ohio U.
Here, again, we quote a student: “5th street is like Mardi Gras on Halloween. The Greenville Police Dept. (GPD) , closes down a six-block area because the party is so big and crazy.”
– UCSB, SANTA BARBARA, CA –
It is not surprising that a college which has its own beach and students and alumni proudly proclaim that UCSB stands not for University California Santa Barbara but U Can Study Buzzed would have a wild Halloween celebration.
But it’s not just the students who roll down Isla Vista. Nearly 50,000 people converge on the area, with many parties starting and spilling into the frat houses in a real-live Animal House.
Unfortunately, it’s not what it used to be and pretty much limited to people with student i.d. cards.
– WORLD’S LARGEST OUTDOOR COCKTAIL PARTY –
It’s not a Halloween party nor is it even on a college campus, but the annual Georgia-Florida college football game in Jacksonville, FL, lives up to its unofficial nickname. This year’s game is Nov. 1.
These are arch-rival schools, which in college football is usually enough to create a wild atmosphere, but this is held at a “neutral” site in northern Florida, half Dawgs and half Gators. Of course, many more fans than the 77,000 that fit into Jacksonville Memorial Stadium converge on the area.
It’s a short walk from downtown to the stadium and much of it is through an open area which, of course, is ideal for tailgating. Over the years, it eventually became known by its nickname, and that pretty much says everything.
Those who don’t go into the game make their way to the Jacksonville Landing, an area on the water with bars, restaurants and shops. And big screen TVs.
Other interesting college football games on Halloween weekend include Stanford at Oregon, UCLA at Arizona, Tennessee at South Carolina and Auburn at Ole Miss. Oh, and Utah State at Hawaii (forget going to the game, head to Maui for the Front Street Parade, or Duke’s in Waikiki!).
This article was updated in 2025.
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