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Saturday: The Trick to Making Halloween a Real Treat

Witches, ghosts, and goblins may be the first things you think of when you hear the word “Halloween,” but at the Farmers’ Almanac we think of family-fun.

The origin of Halloween is hard to pinpoint since there are a lot of superstitions, symbols, and festivities that are associated with this holiday of fun, fright, and frolic. However, we do know that the celebration of Halloween dates back to when the Celts occupied Europe. During that time, it was believed that evil spirits were free to roam the earth one night a year, usually around the end of October. Years later, people lit candles and masqueraded in costumes to ward off the spirits. As this tradition continued, the costumed people began knocking on doors, begging for treats in exchange for an evil-free year.

Around AD 700, the Christians stepped in to combat this Pagan festival by replacing it with a day to honor saints or “hallowed ones” who had lived good lives. In AD 835, November 1st was designated as All Saints’ Day or All Hallow’s Day. The evening before was called All Hallow’s Eve, thus the name Halloween evolved.

Over the years, many countries absorbed various Halloween festivities and customs into their cultures. The United States began observing Halloween in the nineteenth century, when Irish immigrants brought their celebrations to the states. In Canada Halloween celebrations also started in the 1800s. Since then, Halloween has become a national observance in both countries.

Today, many adults dress up in costumes, go “trick or treating” with their children, and enjoy adorning their homes, yards, and offices with Halloween decorations. In fact, more money is spent on Halloween decorations than any other holiday except Christmas.


Why October 31st?
Because Halloween was originally celebrated the night before All Saints’ Day, on November 1st, most of the celebrations have traditionally fallen on October 31st. But, as with other traditions that have been adapted to current society, the Farmers’ Almanac believes that in order to make trick-or-treating safer and more of a family-fun day, trick-or-treading should be done on the last Saturday in October, rather than October 31st. Because no federal or state laws establish the date of Halloween, no laws need to be passed or amended to initiate this change. Instead, altering the observance to the last Saturday in October would be a grass roots campaign that could start with city and county councils, and perhaps even with school classrooms.

Saturday Is More Convenient . . .
Think about the advantages this change would bring about! It would give working parents the opportunity and time to share in Halloween preparations and celebrations. There would be no need to leave work early, rush home, and quickly feed the kids dinner (all the while giving out candy to the children knocking on your door) before going trick or treating. And there would be no more concern about missing school-night bedtimes.

Some communities and municipalities currently vary the date for trick-or-treating from year to year, which is helpful, but some neighboring communities continue to celebrate it on the 31st. This results in more nights of children walking the streets, and for some children, more candy.

What's your opinion? Do you prefer to observe trick-or-treating on Halloween, October 31st or would you rather move it to the last Saturday of the month? Vote on our home page.