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Centre County will welcome more than 8,000 athletes from across the country starting this week for an Olympics-style multi-sport festival.
The State Games of America will be held Friday, July 24, through Sunday, Aug. 2, with participants from 40 states competing in more than 30 sports — ranging from hockey to MMA to track and field to darts — at venues on the Penn State campus and elsewhere in the State College area. The Pennsylvania Senior Games will be held simultaneously.
“Hosting the State Games of America is an incredible opportunity to showcase the very best of Centre County and the region,” Eric Engelbarts, president and CEO of The Happy Valley Adventure Bureau and the Happy Valley Sports & Entertainment Alliance, said. “We look forward to welcoming participating athletes from more than 40 states, along with their families, coaches and spectators for what will be a memorable and exciting celebration of sports competition and community in a place known for its proud sports tradition.”
Created in 1999 and held every two years, the event features competition among medal winners from State Games across the country, such as the Keystone State Games. Because the 2026 State Games of America will be held in the State College, residents of Pennsylvania and several neighboring states do not need to be medalists to enter — and registration for many sports is still open.
An opening ceremony event will be held on July 31 at the Bryce Jordan Center with a Parade of Athletes, lighting of the ceremonial cauldron by BMX freestyle Olympic gold medalist Charlotte Worthington, interactive activities with mascots, appearances by athletic figures from across Pennsylvania and a performance by Red Panda, the world-renowned acrobatic performer best known for her appearances at NBA games and on America’s Got Talent.
The opening ceremony comes a week after the start of the State Games because of the logistics of the sporting events and to have it at a time when the most athletes will be in town, Engelbarts said.
“The vast majority of athletes will be here next weekend. That’s why you get the opening ceremony happening well into the event,” Engelbarts said. “But what’s kind of cool is that you’ll see athletes parading that will have medals on, and you’ll hear them clinking around. You know they’ve experienced the games, and are all excited to show people their medals. And those that hadn’t competed yet get to see what they’re going for. And so it’s kind of a fun little niche that happens, when you run the opening ceremony there.”
Tickets to the opening ceremony are $29.40 for adults and $18.60 for kids ages 2 to 12. (Under age 2 get in free.)
Local officials began working to bring the State Games to Centre County in 2023, both to showcase the region and draw an influx of visitors during a traditionally slow period in the area after many festivals have ended and before the start of Penn State’s fall semester.
It’s shaping up to a boon for local hotels, restaurants and other businesses, Engelbarts said.
“What would be traditionally a down week, one of the more sleepy weekends in this area, has definitely become a citywide event,” he said. “I think every single property in this county will feel some type of compression due to the State Games of America. Ultimately, that’s why we do these things. We go out with other bids and try to host them in this area, so they stay in hotels, eat in restaurants and shop in businesses.”
Engelbarts, who previously was president of the National Congress of State Games, said the effort to get the State Games in Centre County was “one of the more complicated bids that we pulled together.” It took coordination with the Keystone Games and with Penn State, where the vast majority of the competitions will be held.
“That is no small feat,” he said. “One thing that was nice is when we got into it and we got all the parties to know whether the dates would make sense, once they figured out this is kind of like the Special Olympics Summer Games, everything kind of fell into place because then they knew how to treat the event and how that typically runs. Contracting the whole thing, up until that point, it was definitely we were pulling a lot of strings to try to get make sure the venues were available and all this stuff is put together.”
While most of the events will be on campus, some will be held at other locations. Archery, for example, will take place at Hess Field, darts will be at the Arena Bar & Grill, track and field will take place at Bellefonte Area High School and wrestling and yoga asana will be at Nittany Valley Sports Centre.
Volunteer opportunities are still available, and the HVAB hopes to see the State Games receive the same kind of community support that the Ironman 70.3 Happy Valley has.
“We encourage the community to embrace the games in a big way much like we see every year with Ironman,” Engelbarts said. “The State Games of America will again put Happy Valley and amazing Happy Valley hospitality in the national spotlight. Let’s show our visitors what makes this place so special.”
