City council permanently moves Halloween night to be on the same weekday every year
As we head into October, the one thing on a lot of people's minds is Halloween season.
Typically, trick-or-treaters take to the streets on 31 October, but one council has decided to go against tradition this year.
Back in January, Bondurant City Council passed a resolution that set Halloween to be on the last Saturday of October in Bondurant, US.
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This means that this year, trick-or-treating will be allowed from 6pm to 8pm on 29 October in the Des Moines suburb.
And in future years, the date for Halloween in the region could be as early as 25 October in 2025 - a whole six days before the holiday is usually celebrated.
The idea for Bondurant to permanently change the date to the last Saturday of October came originally came from a community Facebook post.
The City Council noticed this and set up a survey to gauge people's interest in moving the date.
141 people participated in the survey, with 65 percent saying they would prefer trick-or-treaters out on the last Saturday of October every year.
Bondurant City Council weighed up the pros and cons of changing the day Halloween was typically celebrated.
They said some of the pros included setting a permanent day-of-the-month, which included consistency, less rushing for families to enjoy Halloween, and kids not having school the next morning.
As for cons, the council said it could impact on households that have non-traditional work patterns and work weekends.
They also noted as the trick-or-treating day would be different from other communities in the Des Moines metro, Bondurant could receive a huge influx of people into the community on that day.
Ultimately, the City Council eventually signed off the new date after the Parks and Recreation Board recommended the change.
On the new date this year (29 October), residents who welcome trick-or-treaters have been asked to keep their front door lights on.
Cities across the Des Moines metro, where Bondurant is based, has often not gone with tradition though when it comes to Halloween.
Since the 1940s, it has been common in the metro that anyone who wanted to go trick-or-treating during the Halloween season would go on Beggars' night on 30 October.
This was often done to avoid some Halloween-night mischief, which had been reported in previous years.
Unlike Bondurant, however, most communities in the Des Moines metro will stick to the 30 October trick-or-treating this year.
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Callum Jones