I’m trying to find a downside to ALWAYS trick-or-treating on the last Saturday of October instead of on the 31st.
There are a few stretch arguments I’ve seen. I’ve read that weekend holidays are more dangerous – subjecting our precious littles ones to more traffic as more people are out-and-about. It has been suggested that our teens would cause more havoc later into the night if trick-or-treating took place on a weekend versus a weekday. And, lastly, the Halloween traditionalists standing in opposition because (gasp) we celebrate on a different day than “New Hallows’ Eve“or “All Soul’s Day” or “All Saints’ Day” (historically between sundown on the 31st and sunrise on November 1st).
Really? No way!
That’s all that keeps us from a later Saturday bedtime and normal Tuesday one? I’d make that trade any day.
We’ve solved Day Light Savings, let’s start working on permanently moving the celebration of Halloween to a Saturday. ALWAYS.
If Halloween is all about the kids, we can throw out holding onto traditions as justification for a late weeknight celebration. The only tradition mine care about is loading up their plastic jack-o-lantern with Snickers or Butterfingers.
Holding onto antiquated traditions for traditions’ sake just makes no sense.
Speaking of traditions, the earliest Halloween celebrations had poor children use turnips to collect items from more affluent people in their communities. Thank goodness that isn’t the case now – we have evolved in candy collection to use plastic and opened the celebration to all. Let’s keep the progressive momentum rolling.
The “it’s safer for kids on a weeknight” argument is debatable. Let’s face it, kids (and adults) set to act a fool on Halloween will do so on either Tuesday or on Saturday night. In fact, if you’re so entrenched in Halloween that you insist on a 31st celebration, I’d be more frightened of you no matter the night. Maybe a fair compromise is not only moving trick-or-treating to Saturday night, but also mandating its end at a decent hour – say, 8:30 pm (?). This way, the kids get off the streets when the adult misadventures heat up.
Can’t we all agree on this?
Weighing the pros and cons, this seems like a “rubber stamp” situation to me – so why hasn’t this change been made before?
Surprisingly, I can find very little on the topic of mandating Saturday trick-or-treating. The most traction for the change shows up in 2019 when a viral petition garnered nearly 150,000 signature online under the guise of the “Saturday Halloween Movement.”
How far the petition went is a mystery – I cannot find anything on the topic (?). There are a few notes about the petitions disappearance being related to backlash of online Halloween traditionists who claim that celebrating on a date before or after the 31st was another attempt at woke-stoked over-parenting that defies beloved tradition.
Maybe the status quo remains because no one cares.
Or, maybe we missed the window after Halloween 2020, the last time the holiday fell on a Saturday, to lobby for this permanent, common sense change. Of course, we were too distracted with COVID to think about such remedial things. Each of us should make a note on our calendars for 2026 – the next Saturday celebration of Halloween.
No matter, though, in 2023, Tuesday will be the “big” night.
Parents will keep their kids up way too late, face unending requests to skip first hour class from teens, schools attendance will be sparse on Wednesday, and we should plan for enumerable complaints from tired little ones that actually make it to school through their candy hangover.
All the while, I’ll be shaking my head in the frustration. There MUST be a better way. Moms and dads will, I guess, make due as usual. That, in a nutshell, is parenting – until 2026 when I shake my fist at these off-based Halloween traditionalists again.
Have a safe and fun holiday!
