It’s that time of year again. All the handmade costumes and store-bought ones are being paraded around the neighborhoods. Giant bags of candy are opened and poured into spooky-looking bowls. There are countless houses decorated with spiderwebs and scary skeletons. It’s finally Halloween! 

But sadly for Pittsburgh, it doesn’t seem like a great day for trick-or-treating. The forecast for Halloween is heavy rainfall, potential flash flooding, and strong winds. Now, as much as everyone loves their candy, many townships and local police departments have decided to keep everyone safe by moving their Halloween celebrations to another day this weekend. In fact, the last time Pittsburgh had a postponed Halloween was all the way back in 2012 when it was delayed because of Superstorm Sandy. 

Beyond the city of Pittsburgh, only one township has decided to keep trick-or-treating and any other celebrations on Halloween. Hampton Township is keeping trick-or-treating from 6-8 P.M., despite the call for heavy rain all day. When they looked at the forecast for the Hampton area, they saw a high of 60°F with light rain and wind during this time. The township is cautioning parents to dress their children accordingly and has stationed extra police coverage throughout all neighborhoods. 

The rest of the townships have decided to reschedule trick-or-treating for either Friday or Saturday to keep everyone safe and out of the rain.

In and around NA, Richland Township, Pine Township, and Marshall Township have all moved trick-or-treating to Friday, November 1, so expect to hear trick-or-treaters knocking door to door from 6-8 P.M.

Ross Township, McCandless Township, and Franklin Park have moved their Halloween celebrations to Saturday, November 2. Trick-or-treating for Ross Township and McCandless Township will be taking place from 5 P.M. to 7 P.M., while Franklin Park will be from 6 P.M. to 8 P.M.

After hearing the news, students have had mixed reactions about Halloween being moved to another day.

For many, safety takes priority in these kinds of situations. Nina Georgieva said, “Even though it’s nice to have trick-or-treating on Halloween, it makes sense why the townships are doing this. I personally agree with what they are doing.”

On the other hand, students Ashley Darrah and Kayleigh Dadey felt that the change was a bad decision for the holiday.  Dadey said, “I just feel like it takes the whole Halloween spirit out of trick-or-treating because it’s not even in October anymore.”

For Ashley Darrah, the delay seemed ridiculous.

“It’s dumb,” she said. “People should suck it up. You can’t just change the day of the holiday.”

Some students are excited for the multiple trick-or-treating opportunities.

“I like the fact that you can go to three different neighborhoods on each day and get three times the candy,” Abby Hofstetter said.

It’s sad that this year many children won’t be able to get their candy on Halloween. But think about it, if you plan your trips right you can go to several neighborhoods in the next three days and get more candy than ever.

Just don’t eat it all in one day.