Penguin City Brewing Company, others host Halloween, holiday fusion event
YOUNGSTOWN The Penguin City Brewing Company and other businesses in the Mahoning Valley transformed the brewery's Pollock Ballroom space into a Halloween and holiday fusion event space on Friday, November 28, 2025.
The "Holiday Haunt" was put on by Nightmare in Niles, Penguin City Brewing Company, Dead Ink Apparel and Rebel Rescue Ranch, aiming to get community members into a "chillingly festive" mood.
"In recent years, Halloween has been slowly creeping into Christmas, creating a growing fanbase for spooky holiday mashups. With a large-scale Holiday Haunt already drawing crowds in Columbus, we wanted to bring that same eerie festive fun right here to Youngstown," said Aspasia Lyras, Co-Owner of Penguin City Brewing Company, in a release outlining the event.
The event featured a haunted maze experience created by the Nightmare in Niles team, including holiday décor and scary surprises. Krampus also made an appearance.
Amy Rigby, Founder and Owner of Rebel Rescue Ranch in Berlin Center, told 21 News that the goal was to experiment with a new type of event that some other big cities have been doing.
"Some of the bigger cities have been doing Krampus and some of the creepier Christmas-type haunted things, but Youngstown hasn't, so we were just like,' Let's see what happens,'" said Rigby.
In addition to the haunt, those in attendance could also visit over 20 local vendors.
Rigby told 21 News that she is thrilled to see the community support organizations like Rebel Rescue Ranch at community events like this.
"It's really great to see everyone, kind of, come together for this final fundraiser for the year for Rebel Rescue," said Rigby.
If you didn't have a chance to make it out to Friday's event, there will be a second night of festivities on Saturday, November 29, from 7 p.m. to midnight.
A kid-friendly maze and brunch without scare actors will be offered on November 30 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
There is a $5 admission fee to participate in the maze, with all proceeds benefitting Rebel Rescue Ranch.
