Saturday Halloween

Pro 1: Celebrating Halloween on a Saturday would make the holiday safer for children.

Fatal crashes involving children increased 83% and those involving pedestrians increased 55% when Halloween falls on a weeknight, after the children have returned from school. Further, there’s been an increase of at least 21 fatal crashes every time the holiday fell on a Friday since 1994. Safe Kids Worldwide states, “Twice as many kids are killed while walking on Halloween than any other day of the year.”[6][7]

Making trick-or-treating even more dangerous, 82% of parents don’t add high visibility aids such as reflective tape or glow sticks to their kids’ costumes, and 63% of trick-or-treaters don’t carry flashlights, according to the Halloween & Costume Association, an organization that created a petition to move Halloween to Saturdays. [8]

Moving Halloween to a Saturday would allow trick-or-treating to begin in the daylight hours, reducing the risk of fatal crashes and eliminating the need for costume safety alterations and flashlights. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says fatal crashes can occur on Halloween when trick-or-treaters dart out into the street unexpectedly. Communities could create safer walking conditions on a Saturday Halloween by blocking off selected roads, which wouldn’t be practical on weeknights when people are returning home from work. [9][10][11]

Pro 2: Celebrating Halloween on a Saturday would be more fun and less stressful for everyone.

Instead of rushing home from school and work to fit in dinner and homework before setting out for trick-or-treating, kids and parents could enjoy the whole day and do more fun Halloween activities together on a Saturday. Entrepreneur Matt Douglas notes, “Extended family could gather like they do for other major holidays and special memories can be made.” [11][12]

With a Saturday Halloween, people who work the traditional Monday–Friday schedule won’t miss out on the fun of handing out candy to kids in the neighborhood. The holiday would be less stressful because parents won’t have to worry about kids staying up past their bedtimes on a sugar high. Plus, businesses won’t lose the productivity of tired workers who attended Halloween parties.[11][13]

Pro 3: A Saturday Halloween would minimize the holiday’s negative impact on schools and learning.

When Halloween falls on a weekday, students are too distracted to learn the day of the celebration. Plus, Halloween parties and parades at school exclude kids whose cultures don’t celebrate or whose parents can’t afford nice costumes. [11][14]

School-day Halloween celebrations, which may have sweet treats and loud music, raise potential issues for students with serious food allergies, kids on the autism spectrum, and those with anxiety. Students and even teachers sometimes cause disruptions by wearing costumes that are inappropriate or just plain too scary.[15][16][17][18][19]

Teachers also struggle to keep students focused the day after Halloween, when they have to wrangle tired and cranky kids. Retired teacher Cookie Knisbaum states that kids are “going to be hyped-up from the day before, and they’re going to try to bring their candy with them.” Moving Halloween to a Saturday would get the holiday out of the classroom, give kids a day to recover before school on Monday, and allow families to decide if and how they want to celebrate.[11][20]