The annual Special Olympics Fall Festival at Villanova University is the largest and most successful student-run Special Olympics in the world.[27] It draws more than 1,000 athletes and 400 coaches from 44 Pennsylvania counties. Athletes may advance through the festival to regional and international competition. Students apply to be a part of the 82-volunteer planning committee, which works for more than nine months alongside Special Olympics Pennsylvania (SOPA), which oversees more than 300 events statewide.[26] The event is put on with the aid of some 2,500 student volunteers and more than 1,000 other volunteers from the Villanova community.