In true Midwest fashion, Ohio has somehow turned Halloween into a logistical debate. This year, trick-or-treating in Columbus and many surrounding suburbs will take place on October 30th, not the 31st. For longtime locals, it’s nothing new. But for transplants and traditionalists, it’s just plain weird, and Reddit is lighting up about it.
Over on the Columbus subreddit, one confused user asked, “Why is trick-or-treating on October 30th this year?” noting that Halloween falls on a Friday, arguably the perfect night for the holiday. Their confusion quickly became a full-blown community debate, with hundreds of comments ranging from safety concerns to pure disbelief.
MORPC and a Century-Old Quirk
According to The Columbus Dispatch, this isn’t some new bureaucratic decision. Columbus hasn’t regularly celebrated trick-or-treating on October 31 for nearly a century. Back in the early 1900s, downtown Columbus threw wild Halloween parties on the 31st — so wild, in fact, that city officials decided kids should do their candy collecting the night before. The official parties eventually ended in the 1950s, but the October 30 tradition stuck.
Fast forward to modern times, and the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) formalized the system. Since 2005, MORPC has recommended that when Halloween lands on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, communities hold trick-or-treating on the Thursday before. The idea is to avoid overlap with football games, weekend parties, and heavy traffic.
But while MORPC’s schedule is technically just a recommendation, most central Ohio cities follow it to keep neighboring suburbs aligned. As one Redditor explained, “Because the borders between Columbus and suburbs aren’t always easy to follow… we get together and plan one night as a region.”
The Safety Debate
Some locals backed the Thursday switch for safety reasons, especially with drunk drivers and Friday traffic in mind.
“They don’t want kids out on a Friday where people who think they are ‘still good to drive home’ would be out running the kids over,” wrote TimeForNewThings.
Others agreed, saying their neighborhoods just aren’t built for nighttime crowds. LilPoobles noted, “My neighborhood has no street lights and no sidewalks… I think trick or treating on Thursday would be much safer.”
Still, plenty of commenters weren’t buying the safety angle. Invisig0th pushed back:
“I’ve been to a lot of drunken parties, even on Halloween. That ain’t a scenario I’ve ever seen. 2AM maybe… It does seem like a VERY flimsy reason to rearrange everything.”
Another user pointed out that most drunk driving incidents happen after trick-or-treat hours anyway.
Beyond safety, others blamed the state’s favorite fall pastime: high school football. When Friday night lights and trick-or-treating overlap, families are forced to pick between candy runs and playoff games.
Professional-Car-211 summed it up:
“Single parents shouldn’t have to choose between trick or treating with their youngest or missing their son’s big game.”
That logic made sense to some, but others weren’t so forgiving. Dr-McLuvin kept it simple:
“Who gives a shit? Halloween is more important.”
The whole situation seems to highlight a kind of Ohio-specific tradition that makes little sense to outsiders. Many Redditors who moved from other states said they’d never even heard of changing Halloween night.
UrbanDurga, who moved from the West Coast, didn’t hold back:
“We have Halloween on Halloween… Children aren’t mowed down in the streets while trick or treating on weekends. So there you go, Ohio. Now you don’t need to do this weird Halloween shit anymore.”
Even long-timers admitted that while the system feels normal now, it’s still pretty strange when compared to the rest of the country.
Some commenters, like Tstrombotn, said it’s just always been that way:
“I have lived here for 68 years and it has always been like this!”
Meanwhile, frustrated locals like Krypton_Kr took aim at the MORPC itself, calling it “a group of dipshits” for dictating the holiday schedule. Beechwold5125 replied with a bit of context, explaining that it’s simply about coordination:
“Because the borders between Columbus and suburbs aren’t always easy to follow, and many people don’t even know which municipality they live in… we get together and plan one night as a region.”
That might make sense on paper—but it hasn’t stopped Ohio Reddit from collectively rolling its eyes.
Whether it’s about safety, football, or just plain habit, Ohio’s version of Halloween is clearly its own thing. Most other states don’t think twice about holding it on October 31st, no matter the day of the week. But in central Ohio, the Thursday-before rule has become part of the culture, however confusing it may be.
As one commenter put it best:
“This town has its head so far up its ass no one can figure out what’s going on.”
Maybe the rest of the country will never understand, but for now, it looks like Columbus kids will keep trick-or-treating on October 30th, rain or shine.
