Thread: Halloween always on Saturday

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I love Halloween. It is probably my favorite holiday which may be because my birthday is two days later. I have read a lot of posts of people saying there is no longer any spirit towards Halloween or they don't have timefor it. I have noticed that Halloween falls on Tuesday this year and that kinda bums me out.I know that many will have their parties and such on the weekend previous but the kids won't go trick-or-treating until Tuesday.

I have always wished that they would make Halloween one of those rotating type holidays (like Easter or Labor Day) wherein a day is selected and it is always celebrated on that day. I want to start a national push to start celebrating Halloween on the last Saturday of October. That way you have the whole day to celebrate Halloween. Parties would be more likely, kids would be out of school on Saturday and off on Sunday so they won't get hyper excited on a school night and as Halloween trick-or-treating is a night time event the kids can have more fun with it and not worry about getting up early for school the next day after getting worn out the night before.

As for the economics of it I can see where many businesses would benefit if it was celebrated on Saturday. There would be more likelyhood that businesses would sponsor an event on Saturday than on Wednesday or Thursday eve and so on and the draw would be larger. More adults would probably get into the swing of things if they had the whole day to work things out instead of just the couple of hours after work that they end up having to spend getting the kids ready all the while dreading work the next day. With more adults involved more Halloween type items would be sold helping out the economics of it. More parties would be planned either for adults or kids meaning more costumes and Halloween related items sold etc.. If you think about it you can come up with hundreds if not thousands of ways that having Halloween celebrated on a non work/school day (for most) would help out the business of Halloween and as everyone knows if more money can be made from it, it is more likely to happen.

As for the non business side of it things would just be more convienient. You would have the whole day to get ready, finish last minute shopping, check and fix costumes, etc. There would likely be more things to do with more parties planned, more events held at schools, businesses, etc. As it is a nightime holiday you would have more time to enjoy it without worrying about school/work the next day. More people would join in on the festivities and you would likely see more people out trick-or-treating and dressing up and going more places and such instead of the usual "Okay kids, once up and once down the block and that is all we have time for". Everyone would have the next day to unwind and relax (especially the kids after their night of hyper excitement and sugar highs) and time to clean up and put away decorations and costumes and check the candy. During the day you could do more fun stuff like watch scary movies and put the finishing touches on the house decorations, make Halloween cookies or other such crafts to gear up for the evening. All this and more would help generate the spirit that so many say is now lacking from the holiday.

Now I know there are diehards and purists out there that want it to be on the 31st . Well for them the deal is that officially Halloween is on the 31st but it has just become commonplace to celebrate it on the last Saturday of the month. Therefore if they want to do something on the 31st they can without being looked at sideways. If it is celebrated on the last Saturday of the month it would never be more than six days away from the 31st.

The other option is to have it on the Saturday CLOSEST to the 31st where it would never be more than three days away but that would get confusing (err it falls on Wednesday so do we do it this weekend or next) and would get into November up to the 2nd or 3rd making it not seem like the same thing, not to mention it would be hard to tell the kids "I know today is the 31st but you have to wait till this next Saturday to have your fun",. So I think we stick with the Saturday before. If you want you can keep your decorations up until the day after the 31st or take them down after the Saturday. You could even do a dinner on the 31st with a Halloween theme or have a Halloween themed desert as the treat but the big celebration and trick-or-treating would only be on the Saturday. I have to say that sounds really cool to me to have the big celebration on Saturday and then enjoy Halloween again with a spooky desert treat (another way for business to benefit - come on in for Halloween dinner and get a free treat - a Halloween cake, pie, cupcake, ... with dinner, no tricks). I don't know just some thoughts. Otherwise we could try to get November 1st as Halloween's national holiday. As it is a night time holiday like New Year's Eve with the majority of the festivities taking place at night then it should be the next day off like New Year's Day. We are off New Year's Day but we celebrate New Year's Eve and say we are going to a New Year's Eve Party, same thing for Halloween. Celebrate Halloween night and be off on the 1st of November.

The day itself has already been corrupted and chosen as the likely day that was celebrated in the past as the Celtic New year (their calendar differs from source to source) when those that died the previous year came back to haunt and/or possess the living. So truly there is no hard fast rule that it is actually our October 31st, especially when you throw in things like leap year.

As it is many people do celebrate on the last weekend of the month with their parties and such. The biggest hurdle I think is getting it to be commonplace that the kids go trick-or-treating on that Saturday night and forego trick-or-treating on the 31st if it is on another day and just get the feeling going that it is okay, actually expected, to celebrate it on the last Saturday. Also the times that October 31st actually does fall on Saturday will make it that much more special. On the 31st you could still do something like the dinner mentioned or scary movie night, etc. or not.

Most people love Halloween and consider it the most fun holiday. It is second only to Christmas for the sale of decorations and related items. Having it celebrated on Saturday where everyone can enjoy it the whole day long would only add to the enjoyment. So if you think this is a good idea go ahead and post a reply and give some ideas on what you think are the pros and cons of it and how to get the ball rolling like get the idea in the local press, get all your friends in on it, start putting up posts on the net that this is how it is gonna be (you know the post or chain email that says I heard from someone that heard that we are now expected to trick or treat and celebrate on the last Saturday of the month - I bet people will like the idea and take to it), anything you can think of.

I also believe that The fourth of July should be a two day holiday, the 4th and the day after, but thats another story. Anyway good luck to all and let me know what you think and have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Personally I like to have my Halloween party on Saturday because it's the easiest day for my guests and myself. On the years Halloween has also fallen on a Saturday, party attendence is lower because many of the parents want to take their kiddies tot'ing.

Excellent post.

I second your idea. Although a lot of areas do this already, if it was a national thing, it would be much better, and probably safer. Like you said, less people are home during the week due to work and school, meaing more traffic and a dangerous environment for TOTS.

I posted that idea somewhere on this forum,but you really brought it out. You know I'm down with that. Let me know and I'll be you campaign manager. Let's get this done for 07!!

Let's just declare Halloween a paid national holiday.
That stretch from Labor day til Thanksgiving is too long without a paid holiday.

Our schools around here (and me too) are out for fall break the week of halloween.......pretty cool....my only concern is a lot of folks will be traveling that week and I may not get such a good turn out on my yard maze.http://community.webtv.net/boswell7/doc0

do you always celebrate Christmas on Saturday?

Sorry--Oct 31st is October 31st and yes, most of the time we take Nov 1st OFF---
Oct 31st IS a HOLIDAY..the LARGEST one next to Beltane on the Calender for those of us who walk this path & live this LIFE....
So,alot of us have always gone against the norm of society anyway.

I voted yes, but mainly because they move it to Saturday here most years anyway.

I don't like it because we are in football country here, so we have our party on Friday just to have people show up. A lot of kids would have to trick or treat at tailgates down here!

I'll likely have my parties, hit the haunted attractions or have horror movie marathons on Saturdays in October, but changing the actual day of the celebration for ease of celebration isn't something I'm keen on. I hate when city mayors declare what day trick-or-treat will be. Hey, mayor, you can pronounce these decisions all you want, but Halloween is Oct. 31, and if kids don't treats, you know what's coming.

The suggestion that Halloween be a work holiday is a good one, but it won't be taken seriously by this generation of employers, despite the fact that we spend more on Halloween than any other day save Christmas. There's no travel, no family gatherings, no grand feast and no connection to a major event in our nations history. At most, it's Reformation Day, when Luther nailed his list of "Here's why you guys suck sometimes" thesis and began the birth of Protestantism. Catholics can have observance for All Saints Day afterwards (which is the day I want off, I usually see the dawn Nov. 1) but it's not as large a festival as other Catholic Holy days. Wiccans and pagans could make significant claims for religious observance, but they'd have to be a huge chunk of the population to get folks thinking another official work holiday. We may see it in out lifetimes, but it's unlikely. Your best bet is to work for an employer who gives vacation time and knows that the company ghoul will be absent the last week of October.

Originally Posted by moonstarling61

do you always celebrate Christmas on Saturday?

Sorry--Oct 31st is October 31st

Thank you!

A voice of reason!

I am all for celebrating holidays on their day! I have always despised the "Monday Holiday Bill" and am sick of people always trying to move stuff around for their own convenience.

How would you like it if there were 3 other people in your family whose birthday is all within the same 2 weeks so your family has a party for everybody together on one day? Would it be special then? Would you feel like it is just your day for you? No!

Halloween day is for Trick or Treating! There are parties all month long for Halloween.

DSGNZ, Why do you have to have Halloween on a Saturday just to have your party? Don't you get it? This is one holiday that offers up more than one day/night of fun! If you stick the day to a Saturday, everyone will want or feel pressured to have their stuff on the day, it takes away the freedom. In your own post you list all the things that could be done on the day if it was on a Saturday. How do you think you would have the time to enjoy all that? You would be missing out on a lot.

As for Halloween being celebrated the weekend before everywhere, well it isn't! Our town does not have any restrictions as to when the kids can ToT except for it supposing to stop at 9pm. And they ToT as late as they like, I leave our lights on 'til 11pm on a week night. I have had my party the weekend before to 3 weekends before. Because I can! Because I can fit it into my schedule when I like. And work it together with my friends and their parties. Then it is kick back and relax until it is time to enjoy the ToT's.

And as for it being a paid holiday, well over half of the employees in America are service related. That means that making it a paid holiday causes more trouble in trying to get it off. I am a nurse and I get to pick ONE holiday to have off of the Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year triad. I certainly don't want them to take another one away from me. Bankers, office and factory workers don't even consider that that could be an issue, let alone the fact that I HAVE TO work every other weekend.

So go ahead and start your campaign, but know that there are those of us out there who will fight it and not because we are purists, but because we don't want our freedoms taken away.

Do you really want the government in charge of one more of our enjoyments?