Costumes downtown and two 5Ks at Island Park gave Mount Pleasant an early Halloween Saturday

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — Downtown Mount Pleasant got a three-week head start on Halloween on Saturday, Oct. 10, when FreakFest took over the Town Center from 2 to 8 p.m. Admission was free and all ages were welcome, according to Art Reach of Mid Michigan, the downtown arts center that listed the event.

The program ran in three blocks: open-mic performances from 2 to 3:30 p.m., line dancing from 3:30 to 5 with Kickin’ in the Mitten, and karaoke and music until 8. In between came costume contests, free crafts and games, food trucks, popcorn and cotton candy, and an artists’ market of local makers. Costumes were welcome but optional.

Art Reach’s store, at 111 E. Broadway St., is open until 4 p.m. on Saturdays.

Runners could start the day at Island Park. The First Responder 5K, hosted by SERVPRO of Mt. Pleasant, Clare & Houghton Lake, stepped off at 9:30 a.m. from the park’s West Pavilion, 331 N. Main St. Standard registration was $40 through Oct. 9, according to the race’s listing on RaceDiscovery.

Later, the Listening Ear Crisis Center held its Spooky Sprint & Stroll at the park from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., a 5K walk or run with face painting and carnival games that raised money for the center, according to event listings.

East of the city, Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College hosted an open mic from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Elijah Elk Cultural Center, 7957 E. Remus Road. Competitors checked in at noon for an hour-long contest with $100 prizes in adult and youth divisions and a $50 audience pick, and the open stage followed at 2:30. Acts were limited to five minutes and had to keep it PG, and guests were asked to bring lawn chairs, the listing said.

If the weather turns, Central Escapes, 5450 S. Mission Road, has dressed its blacklight mini golf course as Ghost Golf Island, with glowing ghosts, spiders and skeletons, through Oct. 31. No reservation is needed, according to the Mt. Pleasant Area Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Visitors were not fighting a football crowd: Central Michigan played at Ohio that Saturday, with a 3:30 p.m. kickoff in Athens, the university’s athletics department had announced.

Updated Oct. 13, 2026: FreakFest, the Island Park 5Ks and the Tribal College open mic took place Oct. 10. This guide was published before them, and its schedule language has been changed to the past tense. Ghost Golf Island at Central Escapes remains open through Oct. 31.

Updated Oct. 13, 2026: The headline and summary were changed to the past tense for events that have already taken place.

Sources:
Art Reach of Mid Michigan, “FreakFest 2026”, https://www.artreachcenter.org/upcoming-events/freakfest-2026
RaceDiscovery, “First Responder 5K 2026”, https://racediscovery.com/event/first-responder-5k
AllEvents, “Spooky Sprint & Stroll,” Listening Ear Crisis Center, https://allevents.in/mount-pleasant/spooky-sprint-and-stroll/200030066617402
AllEvents, “SCTC Open Mic Event,” Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College, https://allevents.in/mount-pleasant/sctc-open-mic-event/200030629158159
Mt. Pleasant Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, “Ghost Golf Island”, https://meetmtp.com/event/ghost-golf-island-spooky-indoor-glow-golf/
Central Michigan University Athletics, “Football Game at Ohio on Saturday, Oct. 10 Will Kick Off at 3:30 p.m.,” Sept. 28, 2026, https://cmuchippewas.com/news/2026/9/28/football-game-at-ohio-on-saturday-oct-10-will-kickoff-at-3-30-pm
Photo: Magicpiano, “MountPleasantMI HistoricDistrict1,” July 26, 2017, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), cropped and color-corrected; derivative under the same ShareAlike license, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MountPleasantMI_HistoricDistrict1.jpg

Mid-Michigan

Tags: Mid-Michigan · Michigan Travel · Halloween · Parks and Recreation · Golf · Arts and Culture