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(Des Moines, IA) -- For the first time in nearly 90 years, many Des Moines metro areas will not be holding trick-or-treating on October 30th, traditionally known as Beggars' Night.
“Beggars' Night is something unique to the central Iowa area. We've got a large metropolitan area with people from different backgrounds, and to them, Halloween and trick-or-treating are on October 31st,” said John Edwards, Mayor of Clive.
Beggars' Night started in central Iowa back in 1939 to address vandalism on Halloween.
Last year, trick-or-treating had to be pushed back to Halloween night due to weather, sparking several Des Moines metro mayors to get together and ask when their residents wanted to trick-or-treat.
A survey conducted by the Metro Advisory Council received responses from around 4,000 residents. Edwards says a majority voted to permanently move trick-or-treating to Halloween night.
Several other metro areas still hold trick-or-treating on a different night, with Windsor Heights and Bondurant having theirs on the last Saturday of October.
Although the day has changed for most of the Des Moines metro, trick-or-treating traditions will stay the same.