I moved to Iowa from Missouri in 1991. One of the changes I had to accept (other than "soda" is "pop") is that Halloween in Iowa isn't necessarily celebrated on Halloween. Because of widespread vandalism in the early part of the last century, many towns declare a "Beggars' Night" on a night other than Halloween. In fact, this list, published by WHORadio.com, shows that most cities in the Des Moines metro area will allow trick-or-treating on Tuesday night.
That said, there's now a national movement to change the date on which we celebrate Halloween, but I suspect that the motivations of the petitioners are NOT as they say.
A group calling itself the Halloween & Costume Association has started a Change.org petition to change the date of Halloween from October 31st to the last Saturday in October, arguing it would make for a “Safer, Longer, Stress-Free Celebration!”
“Why cram it into 2 rushed evening weekday hours when it deserves a full day!?!” the group argues, noting that Halloween itself can be dangerous because parents don’t usually take proper precautions and most parents don’t accompany their kids trick or treating.
And it turns out a lot of people agree. The petition so far has attracted over 24,000 of the 25,000 signatures needed. “It makes more sense to have it always on a Saturday so that we don’t have to worry about getting the kids home and in bed early for school the next day,” one woman commented. “Also, for most people, they wouldn’t have to worry about working that day or the day following.”
Folks are saying it's for the kids - but let's face it, it's for the adults. I was just talking with my parents over the weekend about how Halloween has become a HUGE holiday for adults - adults who would rather NOT go to work the next day.