My favorite holiday is Halloween. I absolutely love the kooky and spooky shenanigans that my kids and I get into for a bucket of candy and a night of laughter. And soon, that evening may be extended to an additional day of fun, thanks to some little-known committee (yes, apparently Halloween has a committee) the popular holiday festivities may be bumped around the calendar in favor of another National Day called National Trick or Treat Day.
The Halloween Costume Association has taken to Change.org to get a petition going that will make National Trick or Treat Day an annual event on the last Saturday of October, which is intended to be a reserved day for parades, trick or treating parties, and other fun events across the country. The idea is to add an additional day of fun that is centered around safety and family togetherness.
“Instead of changing the date that American’s celebrate Halloween, we will be adding an additional day of festivities in partnership with Party City and other brands,” reads the petition. “National Trick or Treat Day will take place annually on the last Saturday of October so families across the country can participate in community parades, throw neighborhood parties and opt for daytime Trick or Treating.”
Many communities across the country already celebrate Halloween on weekends by throwing parties and haunted houses. And it is already common practice for young kids to go trick or treating during sunlight hours – usually dinnertime – because what parent wants a sugared-up toddler refusing to go to bed at 10 pm? It will be interesting to see how popular this idea will ultimately become.
The petition is racking up support quickly with more than 132,000 signatures already, prompting an update from the folks who created it.
“We’ve listened to ALL of your feedback since the petition started in 2018 and view this as an opportunity to truly honor and celebrate what this season should be,” reads the update on the petition change.org. “Halloween in the U.S. has the power to unite rather than divide. So, while we still believe an end-of-October Saturday celebration will promote safety and increase the fun, this year we will be launching a national initiative designed to enhance the Halloween that we all know and love while uniting our Country.”
Who doesn’t love an opportunity to bring our country together especially if it means peanut butter cups and witchy costumes? While we don’t know what will happen with the petition once it ends, we’ll be watching with lots of interest.
The National Trick or Treat Day movement will start on Friday, September 13th and will run through the last Saturday of October. To learn more about the fun ideas they have in store, check out their website here.
