The Halloween and Costume Association, or HCA, has been getting a lot of steam recently from a petition wanting to change the date of Halloween. With over 120,000 signatures, the petition is wanting a change for Halloween to be on a weekend. Many parents say that they don’t feel as if having trick-or-treating on Halloween is safe or good for children if it is on a weeknight. Many people think the ideal change would be to have Halloween on the last Saturday of October instead of October 31st every year. Some local areas do push trick-or-treat dates to the weekend, however not every community can do this. Many parents are wanting a national date that is convenient for them every year. 

Weeknight trick-or-treating does have some benefits. Zach Hein, a student at Wilton High School, believes that trick-or-treating would be safer if it was on a weeknight. Hein does not agree with the petition and believes that trick-or-treating should start earlier to keep kids safe. “Personally, I feel that it should be on a weekday because it’s a little more safe, especially if you do it early.” Lisa Taylor-Furn, the librarian at Wilton High School, also feels they should not change the Halloween date or trick-or-treat date to a weekend. “It surprises me that so many people have signed the petition. Thinking about age gaps, the older kids could get into more trouble on the weekends.” Taylor-Furn believes that having trick-or-treating on a weeknight would be safer for both younger kids and older kids. 

Weekend trick-or-treating is what many parents want because of the convenience. As a parent of two young girls, Wilton High School teacher Mr. Beckley believes that it’s all up to the parents. Beckley believes that the date of Halloween should not change, but the trick-or-treat date would be fine to change. “I don’t think Halloween should change, but I think it would be fine to change trick-or-treating. It’s all up to the parents to control.” Malea Parrott, a student from Wilton High School, feels that trick-or-treating would be fine if it were on a weekend as well. “I personally like doing Halloween stuff on Halloween, but I think a weekend would be more convenient for everyone and the date wouldn’t confuse people.” Parrott believes that children would have more freedom and more time to do homework if the date was moved to a weekend. She also believes that there should be parent control and an ending time. 

This petition has the HCA rethinking the trick-or-treat date. The HCA is trying to keep Halloween on October 31st, but create a national trick-or-treat day where kids and parents can go and have as many Halloween events as they desire. National trick-or-treat day would occur on the last Saturday of October. This change has not been finalized yet, but it may be a decision coming in the near future.