Jasper's Jack-O-Lantern Jamboree Falls on Halloween Night This Year. Here's How to Plan the Day on the Square

What happens to Jasper's Halloween warm-up when it lands on Halloween itself? Over the last few years, the Joshua K. Jennings Jack-O-Lantern Jamboree has been held on the weekend before the holiday. In 2024, for example, the Marion County Courthouse Square hosted it on Saturday, October 26, according to SValleyNow. This year the calendar lines up. Halloween is a Saturday, and the Jamboree runs that evening from 4 to 8 p.m. Central on the square, per the Marion County Chamber of Commerce listing and the Town of Jasper's events calendar.

So the Jamboree doesn't need a second Halloween night after it. It is Halloween night in Jasper. If you have kids in costume, the square is your plan for the whole evening and not just a stop on the way to the real thing. That changes how you'd lay out the day, starting at breakfast.

The Idea Behind the Lights on the Square

The name on the event belongs to someone a lot of Marion County families knew personally. Josh Jennings was a funeral director who managed Tate Funeral Home in Jasper. In 2011 he and his partners developed Hamilton Funeral Home. He was also elected as a Jasper alderman. His obituary at Rogers Funeral Home says he grew the Jasper Lions Club from fewer than 20 members to more than 50.

The same obituary tells how the Jamboree began. Jennings wanted to light up the town square and give the community's children a free Halloween festival. In 2016 that became the Jasper Lions Club Jack-O-Lantern Jamboree. Attendance in 2019 was estimated at 5,000 people. That same year the Marion County Chamber of Commerce named him its 2019 Citizen of the Year, and he received the Melvin Jones Fellowship, which his obituary calls the highest honor in Lionism. The Chattanooga Track Club lists him as the event's founder and notes it was renamed in his memory in 2020.

Today the Jasper Lions Club hosts the event and the Town of Jasper puts it on with them, according to SValleyNow's 2024 preview. Its first goal was a lit, free, family-friendly square on a fall night, and this year that night happens to be Halloween.

What's on the Square October 31

Each listing for this year's Jamboree mentions slightly different pieces. Put together, here's what's planned:

• Trunk-or-treat trail. The CityScope 2026 fall festivals guide lists trick-or-treating at a trunk-or-treat trail.
• Jump houses. These are on the Chamber's listing.
• Music and live entertainment. Both the Chamber and CityScope mention it.
• Food trucks and food vendors. Both listings include these too.
• Games and family activities. CityScope lists on-site games.
• Fireworks. The Chamber's listing promises fireworks. It doesn't give a start time yet.
• Admission. Free, per CityScope.

If your family went in 2024, that lineup also included carnival games, a petting zoo, and costume contests, according to SValleyNow. The 2026 listings don't mention a petting zoo or costume contest. If either one decides your kids' costume plans, call ahead to check.

Jasper City Hall takes questions about the event at 423-942-3180. Some older notices print the number with the last digits swapped, so 3180 is the one to save.

One small timing note. Some listings put the hours in "CST," but daylight saving time doesn't end until early Sunday morning, November 1. On Saturday evening the clocks are still on Central Daylight Time. In plain terms, it's 4 to 8 p.m. by whatever your phone says. Then you gain an hour of sleep after a late night on the square, which is nice timing for parents.

The Day, Hour by Hour

With the Jamboree on Halloween itself, the day has a natural shape that starts early. Here's how it lays out:

The 5K comes first

The day starts hours before the trunk-or-treat trail. The Jasper Jack-O-Lantern Jamboree 5K Fun Run and Walk is listed for October 31, 2026, at the Courthouse Square, with entries starting at $25 and online registration open now. The 2026 listing doesn't give a start time. In 2024 the race started at 9 a.m. on the square, you could register on site that morning, and shirts went first come, first served, according to SValleyNow. Check the registration page this week for the 2026 start time before you set an alarm.

The Chattanooga Track Club's 2021 listing called the course flat and fast through Jasper's streets. That describes an earlier year's course, so the 2026 route could be different. Still, it's a good sign for anyone pushing a stroller, walking with a slower kid, or doing their first 5K.

If shirts go first come, first served again, registering online early is your best shot at one in the right size.

Lunch on the square

Saturday on Halloween means a long day for little legs, and a midday sit-down helps everybody make it to 8 p.m. Red Point Inn is right on the square at 30 Courthouse Square. Its menu covers pizza, calzones, wings, pasta, sandwiches, salads, beer, wine, and desserts. The posted hours are 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. That's the latest Saturday closing time of any spot in this post, so it can also be your supper plan when the trail wraps up. With a big event on its doorstep, call ahead before you count on a table at a particular time.

Four to eight on the square

This is the main event. The trunk-or-treat trail turns the square into one compact route. You're walking a planned circuit of decorated trunks instead of going door to door, and the jump houses and music are steps away. If a big crowd turns out, food truck lines will grow as suppertime gets closer. Eating at Red Point Inn earlier in the afternoon, or bringing snacks for the trail, saves you from feeding hungry kids in a line at 6:30.

The Chamber hasn't posted a fireworks time. If the finale matters to your crew, check the Chamber listing and the Town of Jasper calendar the week of the event, or call City Hall.

The after-party has a theme

If any restaurant in Jasper was made for Halloween night, it's Zombie Ice Cream at 904 Betsy Pack Drive. The zombie-themed spot serves ice cream and desserts plus burgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, and fries. The posted Saturday hours run from noon to 9 p.m.

The timing works, but it's tight. An October 5, 2026 article in Dunlap Today reports that the kitchen operates until 8 p.m. and the restaurant stays open until 9 p.m. for last-minute orders and walk-ins. The Jamboree ends at 8, which is exactly when the kitchen closes. If you want burgers, order before the trail wraps up. If ice cream is the goal, you've got that last hour.

The same article says Zombie Ice Cream recently launched online ordering through Toast and delivery through Uber Eats and Toast. That's handy on a night when one adult may already be home with a tired toddler while the other finishes the trunk-or-treat trail with the older kids. Placing an order from the square during the last half hour means supper is waiting when you get home.

Why This Halloween Is Worth Circling

The Jamboree started in 2016 with a simple idea from a Jasper alderman and Lions Club leader: light the square and give local kids a free Halloween festival. By 2019, an estimated 5,000 people showed up. Most years it's a weekend-before tradition, and families still have Halloween night ahead of them. In 2026 the two are the same night. The idea Josh Jennings had for the square gets to be Halloween itself, from a morning 5K on Courthouse Square to a late scoop on Betsy Pack Drive.

For the short version, register for the 5K this week and confirm the start time, then plan an early meal at Red Point Inn so the family is on the square at 4 p.m. Get any Zombie Ice Cream burger order in before the kitchen closes at 8. If anything changes between now and Saturday the 31st, Jasper City Hall's number is 423-942-3180.

If you're new to Jasper, or thinking about putting down roots on the mountain or in the valley and want a local's read on how fall weekends really go around here, Jessica Wright would love to hear from you. Let's Connect.