It’s here, All Hallow’s Eve or Halloween as many know it, historically celebrated on October 31.
But recently there’s been some talk of changing Halloween, and therefore trick-or-treating to the last Saturday in October.
Over 30,000 parents in the U.S. have signed a petition to send to the White House asking the holiday to officially be changed, which they say will make Halloween safer, longer, and stress-free.
But a majority of those we spoke with in State College, including parents, don’t want Halloween to move, saying the holiday’s safer where it is, given one key event that falls on Saturdays.
“Penn State football games and [the] town’s already crowded on a Saturday night and I just think it’s safer for the kids too,” said State College local, Roxane Miller.
Others, specifically high school and college students, seemed to favor a Saturday Halloween, giving them more time to stay up late.
“I think it would be better if it was on a Saturday night,” said State College 11th grader, Johnny Strickland. “We get tired from school work anyway so the fact that we’re staying up late for parties and what not, we’re staying up later anyway and need more sleep.”
Some want the holiday to be changed is to allow more parents to accompany their kids when trick-or-treating and to start and end earlier before it gets dark.
But all Centre County trick-or-treating begins at 5:30 or 6 p.m., after a standard work day.
“I think it should just stay on the day it falls on,” said State College local, Kat Oliva. “That’s Halloween and we move too many things around. It’s part of the experience and most kids are through trick-or-treating by 8 p.m. So that’s still a good time to go to bed, just don’t have too much candy.”
“We’ll see some sugar rushes in the morning, but that’s all a part of the fun,” said Miller.
And if the highs and lows of a sugar rush are the scariest part of October 31 in Central PA, there’s little reason to believe the holiday’s date will soon change.