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Halloween is SUNDAY!

Architect said:
Where we stay, Halloween has apparently always (i.e. since at least the 19th century) been celebrated on the last Friday in October. It's not just our town, but the whole of the valley as far as I can tell. Go much more than 10-15 miles away, however, and it's back to the plain old 31st.
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Just popping in to say that I always thought Halloween was an American/Canadian thing. Had no idea it was celebrated in the UK as well.
 
We only did that if there was a good chance of rain on the 31st. Better to do it Oct 30 than Nov 1 I guess. Otherwise that's stoopid.
 
RenaissanceBiker said:
I got an email yesterday from the principal of our local elementary school saying that trick-or-treating will be on Saturday night in our community. She said that the Sheriffs department notified her that this would be the night to trick-or-treat in our county this year. I (hastily) replied-to-all that any kid showing up at my house on Saturday night will be told to come back tomorrow. Halloween is Oct. 31, Christmas is Dec. 25 and New Years Day is Jan. 1. Neither the sheriff nor the elementary school principal has the authority to set the date for holidays.

That started a backlash against the principal. It seems that I was not the only one mad about it. The sheriff has stated that he cannot and did not endorse such an idea and he does not know how his name got attached to it. HOAs in our area have put up signs stating that trick-or-treating will be on Sunday in those neighborhoods. I received many replies supporting trick-or-treating on Halloween night. I had one reply that just said I am free to celebrate Halloween any night I want. I replied to that one by saying that in 2011 the 4th of July is on a Monday and that's the day I will be celebrating my freedom.
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I have had a similar experience every so often.

I live , in what i would describe as the " deep south" of canada ( Thought process wise anyway.) and on those odd occasions when halloween falls on a sunday there is a great amount of fuss in regards to it.

What kills me, is that there is not this fuss on other days. If one is upset about the pagan nature, or the simple glorification of horror ( not my opinion at all, but these are arguments i have heard.) that is cool. But to say that this is only innapropriate on one day, seems kind of silly. Kind fo like catching your kid reading a hustler and telling him that it is only appropriate on tuesdays and thursdays.
 
Architect said:
Erm, are you taking the mickey???
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Now that I think of it, it was metioned in the Potter books so I should have known better, but in all honesty, I've never heard my UK friends mention it, and I don't recall seeing it in any UK media, so yeah, it's something that I thought was mainly over here.

Sorry to display such stunning ignorance, but it's out on the internet now and I'll just have to live with it. :o
 
In my area, Beggars' Night has always fallen on some night the week leading up to Halloween -- whatever was convenient for law enforcement and the other activities going on in the area, with I believe some idea that nearby communities would try to stagger their nights a bit. It never occured to me that people would feel the need to get up in arms about this. Similar shifts in schedule may occur for Independence Day parades, Christmas celebrations, etc. Why be a slave to the calendar? It's all arbitrary anyway.
 
The Central Scrutinizer said:
Here in the US, you are supposed to tell a joke. I assume that is still the protocol.
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Say what now? I never recall performance art being a part of "tricker" treating. Beside the cosplay of it, with the occasional dabbling in mock acting associated with the costume, of course.

But on retrospect, I never recall anyone calling my bluff of "trick or treat!" with the challenge "Well, I guess trick, then." I have no idea what I would have done.
 
RenaissanceBiker said:
The obvious solution there is ... HALLOWEEK!
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I've been advocating that for years! I'll be celebrating well into next week.

In fact I'm dressing up in my costume (with a shirt and shorts on underneath) tomorrow for work because I don't work Sunday. I don't see a problem with doing it both nights.
 
I'm beginning to suspect that Halloween is the new Christmas, with all the marketing nowadays and costume shops that spring up for a month then disappear without trace.
 
Well, our Halloween last nigth went very well; guising around the immediate neighbours' houses, a swift drink thrown in for the parents for good measure, then a party two doors up. Kids told jokes, said poems, or sang songs for their sweets. I think we packed the last off to bed around midnight, but it's all a bit hazy by then.

Now, if I just drive 10 miles down the road I'll come to the rest of Scotland where it's celebrated on the 31st, then we can have two of them in one year!
 
Something I heard on the Vancouver radio station that we listen to at work (I'm in Saskatchewan), is that fireworks appear to be a tradition in that part of the country at Halloween. I've never heard of such a thing.
 
AvalonXQ said:
In my area, Beggars' Night has always fallen on some night the week leading up to Halloween -- whatever was convenient for law enforcement and the other activities going on in the area, with I believe some idea that nearby communities would try to stagger their nights a bit. It never occured to me that people would feel the need to get up in arms about this. Similar shifts in schedule may occur for Independence Day parades, Christmas celebrations, etc. Why be a slave to the calendar? It's all arbitrary anyway.
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And all that is fine as long as the community has been included in the decision process and the majority has agreed to it. It becomes an issue though, when one person (or a small group) thinks they can just start imposing rules without giving anyone else a say about it.
 
RenaissanceBiker said:
I got an email yesterday from the principal of our local elementary school saying that trick-or-treating will be on Saturday night in our community. She said that the Sheriffs department notified her that this would be the night to trick-or-treat in our county this year. I (hastily) replied-to-all that any kid showing up at my house on Saturday night will be told to come back tomorrow. Halloween is Oct. 31, Christmas is Dec. 25 and New Years Day is Jan. 1. Neither the sheriff nor the elementary school principal has the authority to set the date for holidays.

That started a backlash against the principal. It seems that I was not the only one mad about it. The sheriff has stated that he cannot and did not endorse such an idea and he does not know how his name got attached to it. HOAs in our area have put up signs stating that trick-or-treating will be on Sunday in those neighborhoods. I received many replies supporting trick-or-treating on Halloween night. I had one reply that just said I am free to celebrate Halloween any night I want. I replied to that one by saying that in 2011 the 4th of July is on a Monday and that's the day I will be celebrating my freedom.
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Fail. Making trick-or-treating on Saturday does not make Halloween on Saturday, so no holiday was moved.
 
Sir Robin Goodfellow said:
Something I heard on the Vancouver radio station that we listen to at work (I'm in Saskatchewan), is that fireworks appear to be a tradition in that part of the country at Halloween. I've never heard of such a thing.
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I learned of it five years ago, when we moved here. They have since banned the fireworks here.
 
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