Will Trick or treating go ahead this year ?

[CustardyCreams]

Just thinking ahead, do you think trick or treating will be banned this Halloween due to COVID-19? It is an outdoor activity, but knocking on doors and grabbing sweets from a bowl... hmmm.

We’re going to do a wee Halloween party at home with the DC and maybe another family (assuming it’s within scope of the guidelines). Dooking for apples, donuts on string etc.

Guising is a big deal where I am but I can’t imagine kids and adults going from house to house this year.

I live in America and the general consensus here is that Halloween this year won’t happen. (It really is a big big deal every year). I am mildly amused that it’s become such a big British thing.

Halloween originated in uk mainly in Scotland and Ireland and mischief night was popular in north of England hundreds of years ago. It wasnt invented by Americans!

It's a pagan festival Samhain. We Scots have guising although some kids do call it T or T now but they still have to sing a song or tell jokes to get thier sweets.

And yes it will still be happening here no reason why it cant. Use paper bags?

I hope not. I can't stand it, to me it's grabby. You don't ask strangers for sweets or money any other time, so why is it acceptable to go knocking on doors doing it on Halloween?

Every sodding year!
Its not "grabby" if its a tradition when people decorate their houses or even just put a pumpkin out (much easier to carve than a neep!) and buy sweets especially to give to local kids who do something to earn them.
Stop insulting our traditions when you obviously haven't a clue about thier origins!

On my local fb they're taking about it. And they all say yes. It's a bug area but we get 100s of kids.
Last Yr I went through 4 big bags of haribo from costco. Think there was 30 in each?
By 8pm I had to remove the decorations so people wouldn't knock.

If everyone else does I will too.

I live in America and the general consensus here is that Halloween this year won’t happen. (It really is a big big deal every year). I am mildly amused that it’s become such a big British thing.

Halloween originated in uk mainly in Scotland and Ireland and mischief night was popular in north of England hundreds of years ago. It wasnt invented by Americans!

It's a pagan festival Samhain. We Scots have guising although some kids do call it T or T now but they still have to dingbat song or tell jokes to get thier sweets.

And yes it will still be happening here no reason why it cant.

I hope not. I can't stand it, to me it's grabby. You don't ask strangers for sweets or money any other time, so why is it acceptable to go knocking on doors doing it on Halloween?

Every sodding year!
Its not "grabby" if its a tradition when people decorate their houses or even just put a pumpkin out (much easier yo carve than a neep!) and buy sweets especially to give to local kids who do something to earn them.

Oops don't know how that happened!

It would be nice if it went ahead. Give the youngsters something to look forward to.

I can't believe people are saying this shouldn't go ahead as is normal for you. It's not big for everyone but there are some total fun dementors on this thread. JC the kids have given up so much this year yet some of you begrudge them a bit of fun.

Despairing doesn't come close to how I am feeling about those of you who can't see the fun in letting young children enjoy this.

I'm more worried about bonfire nights being cancelled and everyone buying fireworks to use at home completely unregulated.

Where we live it already sounds like a WW2 battleground.

I think it will unless we are in lockdown or similar. It’s in a Saturday this year so would have been massive where I live. You only knock at houses with pumpkins so if you don’t want kids knocking, don’t put pumpkins out!

The cancellation of Halloween will be the only goof thing to come out of this virus.

*good

I guess it will depend on what's going on st the time, but I can't see it going ahead exactly as normal.

I love Halloween, and celebrated it when I was a child, 40 years ago. There was trick or treating, ducking for apples, ghost stories and spooky games, "fortune telling" with apple peel, sparklers, carving turnips, spooky costumes with masks for sale in all the shops, toffee apples and barmbrack with a coin and a ring baked in. I used to dress up as a vampire.

My child loves halloween really looks forward to it, but we really arent keen on trick or treating and inly go to a dee preagreed houses normally. I very much doubt we will do that this yr. Fireworks unlikely to go ahead eithet imo

I can already imagine the arguments about it on local Facebook groups!

I’m hoping it will, but will see how many cases there are in my local area at the time.

@HoldingTight, no personally it isn't really a big deal but it is a matter of huge importance to my 10 year old DD! She has missed out on her own and her friends' birthdays, her summer holiday, seeing her uncle and cousins who live overseas... it would be nice to think there is SOMETHING I won't have to apologetically cancel.

She had hoped for a Halloween party, but if only two households can meet indoors that will be pants as we can only invite 1 friend - great party. And if everyone shies away from Trick or Treating too, she will be hugely disappointed.

Not looking likely where I am. I am in regional Victoria and in stage 4 lockdown at the moment.

Bloody hope not. Can't abide Hallow'een

@CustardyCreams

Just thinking ahead, do you think trick or treating will be banned this Halloween due to COVID-19? It is an outdoor activity, but knocking on doors and grabbing sweets from a bowl... hmmm.

Hope not. It's an awful tradition!

@Uhoh2020

Anything Halloween should be banned from shops, TV or anywhere else young children can get excited by it. My DS loves Halloween and has already been talking about his costume, if its not advertised anywhere I can keep blagging him that we are still waiting for the day to arrive

I'm surprised hallowe'en stuff isn't in the shops yet. Usually it's out around back to school time but nothing yet. I think they're probably waiting until nearer the time to see how it pans out.

I live in America and the general consensus here is that Halloween this year won’t happen. (It really is a big big deal every year). I am mildly amused that it’s become such a big British thing.

@ChaBishkoot Halloween is an old Celtic custom

I lived all over the UK as a kid because we moved a lot and everywhere we lived they did trick or treating so not sure where you people live that didn't. I'm 37 so seems strange.

We probably won't go trick or treating this year because you can't manage what other houses do but we will hand out sweets to people who come to our house. We always hand them out rather than kids grabbing anyway so no change there.

Not sure of a need for tongs. Quick bit of sanitiser maybe but probably not.

I'll do a little party for my two since they're still young they're not too fussed and my sons favourite bit is handing them out anyway.

Maybe fashion some kind of slide from the door where you can slide the treats down and the kid puts their tub at the bottom 🤣🤣🤣

We won’t have DD this year as she will be at her dads. We will still be decorating the house and we coming the neighbourhood kids though. Can’t wait- it’s a very special night for us, part remembrance of those who have died, and part ‘scare the kiddies for fin’.

I do like the idea of dressing as a corona virus. If DP dresses as a rhinovirus we could play a guessing game for treats 😈

I intend to put my pumpkin out as usual, and welcome the families that turn up, answering the door in my skeletal hoodie which zips over the head. I expect Saint Boris will say something silly about it; he’s probably been planning that all summer (the only thing he has been planning).

But I will check the Facebook groups, in case this year it’s not eggs I have to worry about, but the adults who were policing shopping baskets for Easter eggs in March, and who might call the police on decorated houses to encourage the kids out.

Not at my house no. The last thing I want is 100s (and I mean 100s) of children all pressing my doorbell and potentially cross-infecting each other. So sadly, no decorations, no sweets.