The holiday season is upon us, and as we reach the home stretch of 2021, Halloween is up first. The spooky, festive day falls on the weekend this year with Oct. 31 being on Sunday, and with that has come some confusion as to whether it should be celebrated that day or perhaps the day before, Saturday, Oct. 30.
Now, it probably depends on where you live, but it’s safe to say most everybody will be planning on celebrating it on actual Halloween, and that’s for a couple reasons.
First, the argument that it is a school night makes little sense when you really think about it. While a Friday or Saturday Halloween may be ideal, there have been many past Halloweens during the week and on school nights. Do you remember any of those being changed for convenience?
Secondly, localities don’t really have a say as to when it will take place. Just look at Waynesboro for example.
“Halloween is not an official holiday recognized by the government,” Waynesboro Mayor Bob Henderson said. “The city really has no say on when citizens can celebrate Halloween. Traditionally Halloween is October 31, and as such that is Halloween.
“When the government-recognized holidays fall on the weekend, the government moves the holiday day off associated to the workday before or after the holiday because that involves employee time off and compensation. In this case, the government is not really involved because it does not affect the normal operation of the government.
“The city is not in a position to dictate when folks partake in Halloween festivities. We could say do it Saturday because Halloween falls on a Sunday, however, if some go out trick or treating on Sunday, well Halloween is October 31, not October 30.”
The topic of discussion has come up a bit, particularly in neighborhood Facebook groups around the area, and the general consensus is that it should take place on the actual holiday, and that seems to be the plan for most.
So, locals can expect most of the visiting ghouls and goblins to stop by on Sunday. As for having some on Saturday, we’ll just have to wait and see.
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