The State College Borough Council approved open-container and noise-ordinance waivers for the 2020 Happy Valley Music Festival, which will take place downtown next June.

Festival organizers also applied for a Special Activity Permit that will temporarily close a portion of the 200 and 300 blocks of South Allen Street, use the Bill Welch Memorial Plaza, and use the Allen Street Parking Lot. The festival will be held from June 19-20.

The festival will be “a ticketed music festival, with catering, alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages,” according to Council’s agenda notes.

Council has been able to grant an ordinance waiver for the Borough’s open container policy every year since 2017.

Because the festival is sponsored by the Downtown State College Improvement District and is within the established downtown boundaries, it met the qualifications for Council’s waiving of the open container limitation. The noise ordinance waiver will be granted as long as the applicant meets a set of pre-determined requirements, outlined by Council, for the festival.

Council unanimously approved Lucky Dog Management’s request for a noise and open container ordinance waiver for the festival, though Councilwoman Theresa Lafer was not present for the vote.