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 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 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 to happen.
Now I know there are diehards out there that want it to be celebrated 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.
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 Halloween if it is on another day and just get the feeling going that it is okay 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.
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, and as it is generally a night time holiday, not have to worry about going to work the next day after partying or trotting the kids around the neighborhood all night not to mention dealing with their sleepless sugar high and giving them a chance to burn it off the next day. That Sunday can be spent dealing with the candy and cleaning up and putting costumes away and...
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!
