Shamrocks and green beer will be replaced with stars and a red carpet next semester.

A “scaled-down version of [the] Sundance [Film Festival]” is in the works to take place during the weekend usually reserved for the student-created holiday State Patty’s Day, Levels Nightclub manager Tim Crockett said.

Crockett, who is helping to coordinate the acts, said the festival, THAW, is looking to book Jared Leto’s band Thirty Second to Mars, Zooey Deschanel’s band She and Him, Jack White, Jack Black’s band Tenacious D and Kevin Bacon’s band the Bacon Brothers.

Some of the acts are almost finished with the booking process, Crockett said.

Aside from the musical acts, about 50 films will be premiered over the weekend at venues around town. The films will include previews of films that will have not yet been released, new releases and films that will have premiered exclusively at Sundance or other film festivals, Crockett said.

THAW will occur Feb. 28 through March 1, the weekend between the Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon and spring break, Penn State Vice President for Student Affairs Damon Sims said via email.

“We … believe that the weekend between THON and spring break, which traditionally has been the date for State Patty's Day, must be filled by an event that both students and permanent residents of State College can enjoy,” Sims said. “Failing to do so would only invite a return to State Patty’s Day, which no one should want.”

All proceeds for the festival will go to Best Buddies, a nonprofit organization that “helps to prepare and develop mentally challenged individuals to get jobs and be self-sustaining,” Crockett said.

There will be a special section of the festival focused on autistic and mentally disabled filmmakers and actors, who will be speaking and holding question-and-answer sessions over the weekend, Crockett said.

There will be question-and-answer sessions and meet and greets with the other visiting actors and bands as well, Crockett said.

In the theme of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, local and regional musicians including My Hero Zero will also perform, Arts Festival Director Rick Bryant, who has offered consultation on the project, said.

Sims and Borough Manager Tom Fountaine co-chaired the task force, which included student leaders and others who wished to put an end to State Patty’s Day, Sims said.

“Drinking becomes secondary when there are all these people in town and all these opportunities to go to these shows and films,” Crockett said.

The concerts and movie showings will be held all across Penn State’s campus and downtown State College, including the Bryce Jordan Center, Eisenhower Auditorium and the HUB-Robeson Center Auditorium, as well as “non-traditional” venues including coffee shops and churches, Crockett said.

No business that serves alcohol will be utilized as a venue over the weekend, including Levels, 420 E. College Ave., Crockett said.

Crockett said that to his knowledge, all of the safety procedures and rules that have been put in place over the past three years concerning State Patty’s Day will still be in effect for the new event.

“I think [THAW] is a good try to tone down the excesses of State Patty’s,” Bryant said. “The university has tried a couple of strategies … and I think this is just another step to make this weekend something the town can be proud of.”

Matt Jordan, an associate professor in the College of Communications, is looking to connect an indie film event — the College Town Film Festival — to THAW as well, Sims said.

Jordan’s College Town initiative will begin earlier that week, Sims said, but there will be overlap of that initiative and other THAW events during the weekend. In addition to headliner acts, there will be smaller musical attractions in various venues around town and on campus, comedy, film and lectures or discussions involving the artists and attendees.

“It's an extension of a true town-gown effort,” Sims said, “aimed at both replacing the harmful activities associated with the State Patty's Day drinking holiday and bringing to our vibrant community cultural activities everyone can enjoy.”