--- title: "Halloween on Saturday? This Trade Group Says Yes" id: "44618" type: "post" slug: "halloween-on-saturday-this-trade-group-says-yes" published_at: "2018-10-26T20:12:24+00:00" modified_at: "2026-03-16T23:04:08+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2018/10/26/halloween-on-saturday-this-trade-group-says-yes/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2018/10/26/halloween-on-saturday-this-trade-group-says-yes.md" excerpt: "The Halloween & Costume Association, citing safety concerns and a desire for consistency, is making the case in a petition to the president that the holiday should be held on Saturday nights. The petition is gaining quick momentum." taxonomy_category: - "Advocacy" taxonomy_post_tag: - "Advocacy" - "AssociationsNow" - "Business" - "Halloween" - "Media" - "Safety" - "trade associations" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "C-Level" - "Executive Team" taxonomy_persona: - "Industry Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Halloween on Saturday? This Trade Group Says Yes There are many great things about Halloween—the costumes, the candy, the music, the movies—but one thing that’s not so great, according to one trade group? The timing. And the Halloween & Costume Association would really like to make the case that it’s better to have Halloween happen on a set day of the week—particularly, Saturdays—than on October 31. The group is calling on President Donald Trump to make it so, and is asking for the public’s support, by launching a petition to that effect. And the petition has seen plenty of success so far: [Since being put up on Change.org (opens in a new tab)](https://www.change.org/p/president-of-the-united-states-join-the-saturday-halloween-movement) , it has received more than 10,000 signatures at the time of publishing—with a surge in growth thanks to a groundswell of media attention around the issue. The association, in making its case [for what it calls the Saturday Halloween Movement (opens in a new tab)](https://www.halloweencostumeassociation.org/join-saturday-halloween-movement) , points to safety issues that frequently arise, including roughly 3,800 injuries that happen yearly during Halloween. The group also states that 70 percent of parents don’t accompany children for trick-or-treating, and nearly two thirds (65 percent) don’t discuss Halloween safety measures with their children. The association ultimately argues that if the holiday was guaranteed to be on a weekend, more could be done to ensure safety among trick-or-treaters, while allowing candy to be passed out for longer periods of time. [As USA Today’s Scott Craven notes (opens in a new tab)](https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/allthemoms/2018/10/24/halloween-saturday-would-game-changer-kids-and-parents/1752100002/) , it also has plenty of practical benefits as well. “Moving Halloween to a Saturday would not only solve the school-night dilemma but it would ease the heavier-than-normal traffic on Oct. 31 caused by parents trying to get home early so they can squeeze their infants into unwieldy-but-adorable costumes,” he writes. Of course, making a shift for convenience might mean loosening a grip on some historic precedent. [Per the History Channel (opens in a new tab)](https://www.history.com/topics/halloween/history-of-halloween) , the event has traditionally been held on October 31 in part due to its roots in the Celtic holiday Samhain, a festival before the November 1 new year began. The festival was built around the belief that the ghosts of the dead returned to the Earth for a single night. After the Catholic Church set November 1 as All Saints’ Day, the rituals of Samhain were combined with the holiday, which eventually evolved into All Hallows’ Eve, or Halloween. (The trick-or-treating, of course, came later.) (Rawpixel/iStock/Getty Images Plus) [Ernie Smith](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Tags: [#Advocacy](https://associationsnow.com/tag/advocacy/) [#Business](https://associationsnow.com/tag/business/) [#Halloween](https://associationsnow.com/tag/halloween/) [#Media](https://associationsnow.com/tag/media/) [#Safety](https://associationsnow.com/tag/safety/) [#trade associations](https://associationsnow.com/tag/trade-associations/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [VideoUrban Land Institute- Project Recovery: Rebuilding Los Angeles After the January 2025 WildfiresSeptember 24, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/09/24/urban-land-institute-project-recovery-rebuilding-los-angeles-after-the-january-2025-wildfires/) - [PodcastAssociations NOW Presents: Powering Advocacy-Why PACs Matter for AssociationsNovember 20, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/11/20/associations-now-presents-powering-advocacy-why-pacs-matter-for-associations/) - [VideoASAE Legislative 2025 Fly-InApril 4, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/04/04/asae-legislative-2025-fly-in/) - [PodcastNavigating Tax Reform: Advocacy for Associations and NonprofitsDecember 19, 2024](https://associationsnow.com/2024/12/19/navigating-tax-reform-advocacy-for-associations-and-nonprofits/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2018%2F10%2F26%2Fhalloween-on-saturday-this-trade-group-says-yes%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !