When is trick or treat?

[MaggieTheCat]

I'm from a small town in northern Wisconsin, but I live in a big city in Texas, now. When I was a kid growing up in Wisconsin, trick-or-treat was ALWAYS on a weekend. If Halloween (Oct 31) was on a Wednesday, trick-or-treat would usually be on the Friday or Saturday after. And it's always in the afternoon rather than the evening. This year, Trick-or-Treat is on Saturday, the 29th, from 4-7pm. The sun starts going down around 6pm this time of year, so really, by the time it's actually dark, trick-or-treat is ending.

This is completely different than how it's done where I live now. Last year was the first year my husband and I got to hand out candy, since we now live in a house in a pretty big neighborhood (before, we lived in an apartment complex on the second floor so we'd never get trick-or-treaters.) I spent quite a while searching through websites and local newspapers last year trying to figure out when trick-or-treat would be. Finally I asked some friends of ours if they knew. They said Halloween evening after dark, when else? I explained how trick-or-treat was always on a weekend in my hometown, regardless of when Halloween actually was, and they looked at me like I was crazy. They'd never heard of that. Everywhere they'd ever lived, trick-or-treat was always on Halloween. And, down here at least, it doesn't even start until after dark. I was wondering if our neighborhood wasn't a popular trick-or-treating location since we didn't get a single trick-or-treater before 7pm. But once it got dark, we got slammed. We had kids coming until nearly 10pm.

So, I'm curious. When does/did everyone here trick-or-treat?

[AnaKhouri]

Our small town has official hours: 6:00 to 7:30. Of course there are some early birds and some latecomers but the bulk of trick-or-treating seems to be done withing the official hours.

And I don't recall ever moving trick-or-treat dates according to weekends; we always did it on Halloween regardless of the day.

[Greenday]

And I don't recall ever moving trick-or-treat dates according to weekends; we always did it on Halloween regardless of the day.

This. I've never been anywhere that had trick-or-treating on a day besides Halloween.

[Food Lady]

This. I've never been anywhere that had trick-or-treating on a day besides Halloween.

Me, too, and I live in Wisconsin. It was the same in California. But I think if you go to the mall-sponsored event it's on a Saturday. Otherwise it will be on the 31st.

[pitmonkey]

One of the local cities has afternoon T & T at the downtown businesses on the day of, except on Sunday when everything is closed. Then they have it in Sat. This shuts down the area which makes getting around a nuisance, but not too bad. The rest of the community does T & T the night of and start at dusk going to about 9 pm.

[CoffeeMonkey]

::curmudgeon hat on::

Back in MY day, trick or treating was always done ON Halloween. School or community parties with candy would be on the weekend closest to the holiday, but the door to door stuff was always on the 31st. Also, you have to finish your dinner before you put the costume on, and you can't leave until it gets dark out. That's the rules.

Now most of the cities near me have decided that it's too dangerous to trick or treat in the DARK! Bad things could happen, oh noes! So trick or treating starts around 4pm with the littlest kids, and the bulk of it is done by 7 or 8, though the bigger kids will come around later. Some cities have cerfews where the kids have to be home by 8. Personally, I think it's a travesty.

[Treasure]

I lives in TX - in my (parents) neighborhood, due to Halloween being on a Monday this year, trick-or-treating will (most likely) start on Friday night around 7 -730; it may happen again on sat. night (usually a different set of kids) around 7 - 730; it often happens again on Sunday - again starting around 7-730; - these nights we (they ) get about 2dz kids over about 2 hours... however the Night of - starting as early as.... 630 trick-or-treaters will start ringing the doorbell/knocking and go until 10-130.... or until the candy runs out.

Trick or treating is officially over when you have hit every house in your neighborhood that has a porch light on, a jack o'lantern lit, or other decorations on and active.... OR those houses run out of candy and start turning off the porch light, and decorations, and taking the pumpkin inside...

now granted my neighborhood is a little special - we have a large influence of hispanic culture, so the religion has a lot to do with when/why they go out... some people trick-or-treat in their neighborhood one night, and then go to where other family members live another night - also people drive to the nicer parts of town - those folks give out full size candy bars!...


I was only allowed to Trick-or-Treat on the night of... could not get dressed til after dinner (which was sometimes made early, and could be chili dogs....) mom usually had to do all 3 of us kids' makeup/SFX, then we went out, and came home when we hit all the houses / our pillow cases got full / we got tired...

[Bagboy]

I'm dressing up as General Creedon for Halloween to pass out candy. I've got a dark/navy blue general's uniform with a saber. The brass buttons on this thing are immense.

Hey at least it's not the boring post 1900 uniform when it was switched to olive green.

For those who don't know what Creedonia is, it's my own little world. I sometimes dress up like people from said world.

[Lurking Sockpuppet]

Always Halloween night after it starts getting dark.

Sockpuppet

[ralerin]

Haha, wow.

Since the 1970's, ALL trick or treating has been done the Sunday before Halloween from 1-3 pm in my town

Yeah.

This year they're going to have it on Halloween after dark, from 5-7 if I remember correctly.

[Misanthropical]

Growing up in South Dakota, we went trick or treating on what ever night Oct. 31st fell on, but here in PA, a state that is assbackwards on a lot of things, trick or treating is always on the last Friday of the month, no matter what date that is.

[crazyofficeclerk]

Our trick or treat is always the Sunday around the 31st. In the past that has meant that trick or treat has fallen on Nov 1st. Trick or treat is usually 4:30-6 or 5-6:30. Here in NW Ohio, that means it not dark until after trick or treat is over.

What concerns me is the number of people who aren't at home handing out candy. I didn't trick or treat as a kid because of a phobia of people in costume. The few times I did go, my dad took me around and my mom stayed home and handed out candy. In the last few years, I have noticed an increase in the number of couple who bring their kids trick or treating and leave no one at home to hand out candy. Does anybody else notice this or is it just a local thing around my town?

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Trick or Treat in Irvland is on Halloween night, 5 to 7.

But when I was a wee Irvling trick or treating was always the Sunday before Halloween.

I have no idea why this was the case, or why it was changed.

[MoonCat]

I'm with CoffeeMonkey. It's all messed up now.

When I was a kid, we went trick or treating on Oct. 30, which was known as "Beggar's Night." As I got older the activity shifted to Oct. 31. But it didn't matter what night of the week it was, and it had to be dark out when we went. None of this late afternoon stuff with everybody back in the house by 6.

As far as it being "dangerous", well, as Granny Weatherwax might say "That's as may be." It wasn't when I was a kid. One of my favorite books is "Halloween and Other Festivals of Death and Life," by Jack Santino. It's a few years old now, but when it was published, he pointed out that the only cases of Halloween harm on record turned out to be hoaxes pulled by the kids themselves or their parents. Nothing by strangers.

I know a guy who said that as a kid, he and his friends went trick or treating three nights in a row - Oct. 30, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1! And the neighbors were fine with that. It was a pretty small town, though.

[kpzra]

As a kid in Michigan, usually the Friday nearest it if it was a school night, and NEVER on Sunday (6ish-8ish). In Georgia I think it was the night of, no matter what day of the week(5-8ish). Alaska, don't know since we lived out in the country. Nevada it is this Friday 6pm-8pm, as the 31st in Nevada day. Not sure how it is usually done here as we just moved, but the paper tells you when it is.