UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s football season will get under way with Penn State Football Eve on Friday, Sept. 2. The event, now in its eighth year, features a carnival-like atmosphere outside Beaver Stadium, followed by a celebration inside the stadium with the team and Coach Joe Paterno. College Colors Day also will be observed on Sept. 2, and the College Fishing Festival will be held at the Bryce Jordan Center Sept. 1-3.
This year’s edition of Football Eve will launch the celebration of 125 years of Penn State Football, as the Nittany Lions prepare for their first contest against Indiana State. Fans are encouraged to wear Penn State blue and white throughout the day on Sept. 2 as part of College Colors Day, a nationwide, annual celebration dedicated to college traditions and spirit, and to advocacy of higher education through increased public awareness. For more information, visit http://www.collegecolorsday.com/, and watch a video at http://goo.gl/enAml online.
The event will feature festival food and fun along Curtin Road, and a fan promenade at 6 p.m. Kids’ games, food and music all will be part of the event, which attracts more than 20,000 people each year. The stadium’s gates will be opened at 7 p.m. and the program inside the stadium will begin at 7:45, featuring the Blue Band, cheerleaders, the dance team and videos. This year’s seniors will be introduced, and after Paterno’s address to the crowd, a new stadium video will be revealed.
Also part of the weekend’s festivities will be the College Fishing Festival, being held in Room 127 of the Bryce Jordan Center (across Curtin Road from Beaver Stadium) from 2-4 p.m. on Sept. 1 and 2, and from 9 a.m. to noon on Sept. 3. Students and fishing fans will be able to participate in multiple events, including games and contests. The festival is being held as part of FLW College Fishing’s Northern Regional Championship, in which 20 college teams will compete at nearby Sayers Lake for awards including a grand prize of $50,000, to be split between the winning school and the bass-fishing club. Weigh-ins will be held at 4 p.m. on Sept. 1 and 2, and final weigh-in will be held Sept. 3, at the conclusion of the Penn State vs. Indiana State game.