Halloween 2026: The Complete Guide

Halloween, the October 31 holiday of costumes, candy and jack-o’-lanterns, began as an ancient Celtic harvest festival and grew into one of the biggest celebrations in the United States. This guide to Halloween 2026 gives you the essentials in one place: the date, the numbers, the trends and the safety basics. Then, each section points you to a deeper Bee Bulletin guide when you want more ideas.

Because the holiday lands on a Saturday this year, Halloween 2026 is likely to feel bigger than usual. Kids have no school the next morning, adults can host parties on the actual night, and neighborhoods can start trick-or-treating before dark. So it pays to plan costumes, decorations and treats a little earlier than you normally would.

When Is Halloween 2026? Date and Day of the Week

Halloween 2026 is on Saturday, October 31, 2026. The date never moves; Halloween is always October 31, but the weekday changes each year, and a Saturday Halloween is the most convenient version for families and party hosts alike.

What a Saturday Halloween 2026 means for you

• Trick-or-treating: Many towns set official hours, so check your city or township website. With no school night, expect more kids out, and for longer.
• Parties: You can host on the night itself instead of the weekend before. However, Friday, October 30, will also be a popular party night, so book venues early.
• An extra hour: Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 1, 2026, when most of the US sets clocks back one hour. As a result, late-night parties effectively gain an hour.
• Theme parks and events: Halloween-night tickets usually sell out first, especially when the date falls on a weekend.

Date	Day	What happens
October 30, 2026	Friday	Likely party and school-celebration day
October 31, 2026	Saturday	Halloween: trick-or-treating, parties, haunted events
November 1, 2026	Sunday	All Saints’ Day; daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m.
November 2, 2026	Monday	All Souls’ Day

What day is Halloween 2026?

Halloween 2026 is on a Saturday. In other words, the Halloween 2026 date is Saturday, October 31, which makes it the first Saturday Halloween since 2020. In 2027, by contrast, October 31 falls on a Sunday.

Is Halloween a federal holiday?

No. Halloween is not one of the 11 US federal holidays listed by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the agency that sets federal work schedules. As a result, schools, banks, post offices and government offices follow their normal schedules; in 2026, however, the Saturday date means most workers and students are already off.

Is Halloween 2026 on the same date in the UK, Canada and Australia?

Yes. Halloween is October 31 everywhere it is celebrated, so Halloween 2026 is also Saturday, October 31, in the UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand. One difference: the UK sets its clocks back on Sunday, October 25, 2026, a week before Halloween, according to GOV.UK, so British trick-or-treaters get darker evenings earlier.

Does the time change on Halloween 2026?

Almost. Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 1, 2026, just hours after Halloween night, when clocks in most of the US fall back to 1 a.m. Hawaii and most of Arizona do not change their clocks. Therefore, a Halloween party that runs past 2 a.m. effectively gets an extra hour, and Sunday morning sunrise comes an hour earlier on the clock.

Is there a full moon on Halloween 2026?

No. The October full moon, known as the Hunter’s Moon, peaks at 12:12 a.m. EDT on Monday, October 26, 2026, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. By Halloween night, the moon is a waning gibbous, roughly two-thirds lit, and it rises well after sunset, per Star Walk, so early trick-or-treating hours will be fairly dark.

Is Halloween 2026 on Friday the 13th?

No. Halloween 2026 is a Saturday, but a Friday the 13th follows soon after: Friday, November 13, 2026. So if you want to stretch the spooky season, that date makes a natural second horror-movie night.

When is Halloween in future years?

Halloween stays on October 31, but the weekday shifts each year. Use this table to plan ahead.

Year	Date	Day of the week
2026	October 31	Saturday
2027	October 31	Sunday
2028	October 31	Tuesday
2029	October 31	Wednesday
2030	October 31	Thursday

Halloween 2026 by the Numbers

Americans will spend a record $13.5 billion on Halloween 2026, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF) Halloween survey, published September 22, 2026. The NRF, the largest US retail trade group, also found that 74% of consumers plan to celebrate and that the average shopper will spend $115.14.

Notably, costumes now edge out decorations and candy as the largest spending category. Meanwhile, 49% of shoppers said they planned to start in September or earlier, and online search (32%) is the top source of costume inspiration.

Category	Expected 2026 spending	Share of shoppers buying
Costumes	$4.4 billion	71%
Decorations	$4.3 billion	78%
Candy	$4.1 billion	96%
Greeting cards	$0.8 billion	42%

How Americans celebrate

Activity	Share planning to do it
Handing out candy	61%
Dressing in costume	50%
Decorating home or yard	42%
Carving pumpkins	42%
Watching scary movies	42%

Your Halloween 2026 Guide

Use this section as your map. Each card below covers one part of the holiday and links to the full Bee Bulletin guide, so you can jump straight to the ideas you need for Halloween 2026.

What Are the Most Popular Halloween Costumes This Year?

Classic characters still win: the NRF says the top adult costumes are a witch (4.8 million people), a vampire (4.2 million) and Batman (2 million), while Spider-Man (4.6 million) leads for kids. On top of the classics, pop culture drives the trend lists this year.

For example, Spirit Halloween, the seasonal costume retailer, named Prime Video’s Off Campus (Allie’s party jumpsuit, Hannah’s bunny costume and Graham’s hockey uniform), Toy Story 5 characters such as Woody, Buzz and Jessie, Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters, superheroes and Greek-inspired gods among its 2026 trends.

Group	No. 1	No. 2	No. 3
Adults	Witch (4.8M)	Vampire (4.2M)	Batman (2M)
Kids	Spider-Man (4.6M)	Superhero (2.3M)	Princess (2.2M)
Pets	Pumpkin (11.6%)	Hot dog (5.9%)	Ghost (2.8%)

How Should You Decorate for Halloween?

Pick one theme and one focal point, such as a porch, a front window or a mantel, and build around it. That approach keeps costs down, and it still gives trick-or-treaters something memorable to see.

Next, think about light. Since trick-or-treating starts around dusk, glowing pieces such as jack-o’-lanterns, string lights and projected effects do most of the work. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recommends flameless candles or battery-operated lights, checking light strands for frayed wires or cracked sockets, and never overloading extension cords.

• Porch and entry: pumpkins, a doormat and lanterns set back from the walkway.
• Yard: tombstones, ghosts and inflatables, staked down against the wind.
• Indoors: table runners, spooky garlands and candle-free lighting for parties.

What Should You Serve at a Halloween Party?

Serve a mix of store-bought candy and two or three themed snacks, then add one simple game or a costume contest. Candy remains the near-universal purchase; in fact, the NRF says 96% of Halloween shoppers buy it.

For a crowd-pleasing table, combine sweets with savory bites so guests are not living on sugar. Also, follow the FDA’s Halloween food safety tips: serve only pasteurized juice or cider, skip raw cookie dough, and do not leave perishable food out for more than two hours (one hour above 90°F).

What Should You Watch on Halloween Night?

Pick by audience first: family-friendly spooky films for kids, classic slashers for teens and adults, and documentaries or thrillers for anyone who prefers real-life chills. Scary movies are a staple of the season; indeed, 42% of Americans plan to watch them, per the NRF.

Our best Halloween horror movies list ranks the scariest picks. Meanwhile, if your group wants something based on actual events, try our guide to horror movies based on true stories.

Is there a new Halloween movie or game in 2026?

There is a new game rather than a new movie. Halloween: The Game, a Michael Myers survival game from developer IllFonic with Gun Interactive, launched digitally on September 8, 2026, for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, according to GamerFuzion. Physical PS5 and Xbox Series X editions followed on October 6, 2026, per Dread Central. On the film side, the most recent entry in the franchise is still Halloween Ends (2022), so a Michael Myers marathon is the classic way to celebrate.

What Can You Do for Halloween Beyond Trick-or-Treating?

Beyond trick-or-treating, popular options include pumpkin patches, haunted attractions, community trunk-or-treat events and theme-park Halloween parties. Many of these run on select nights throughout October, so check dates now.

For instance, Disneyland Resort’s Halloween Time season runs August 21 through October 31, 2026, which is included with regular park tickets; the separately ticketed Oogie Boogie Bash party is sold out for 2026, per Disneyland’s event page as of October 10. See our theme park Halloween events guide for events that still have tickets. Similarly, local parks, libraries and churches often host free family events; your city’s events calendar is the best place to look.

Meanwhile, if you would rather visit a real haunted site, our guide to the most haunted places in America lists spots you can tour this season, and many of them run special Halloween ghost tours. Also, the Saturday date means Halloween-night tickets for haunted houses and Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights are among the first to sell out, so book early.

What Is the Origin of Halloween?

Halloween traces back to Samhain, an ancient Celtic festival (pronounced “sow-in”) that marked the end of the harvest and the start of winter. According to History.com, the Celts celebrated their new year on November 1 and believed that on the night before, the boundary between the living and the dead blurred.

Later, in the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a day to honor saints. As the Library of Congress explains, All Saints’ Day soon absorbed some Samhain traditions, and the evening before became All Hallows’ Eve, which eventually shortened to Halloween.

Where jack-o’-lanterns and trick-or-treating come from

• Jack-o’-lanterns: An Irish legend about “Stingy Jack” inspired people to carve faces into turnips. Irish immigrants in America then switched to pumpkins, which were easier to carve (Library of Congress).
• Trick-or-treating: It likely blends several customs, including leaving food out for spirits at Samhain and medieval “souling,” when poor people received soul cakes in exchange for praying for the dead (History.com, Library of Congress).
• Halloween in America: Irish immigrants, many fleeing the Potato Famine in the second half of the 19th century, helped popularize the holiday nationwide (History.com).

How Do You Keep Trick-or-Treating Safe?

Make kids visible, keep them with an adult or a group, and check every treat before anyone eats it. Visibility matters most, because a JAMA Pediatrics study of 42 years of US traffic data found pedestrian deaths were 43% more likely on Halloween than on comparison nights, with the highest risk around 6 p.m. and for children aged 4 to 8.

Halloween 2026 safety checklist

• Costumes: choose bright, flame-resistant fabrics, add reflective tape, and make sure hems do not drag (CPSC).
• Masks: look for large eye holes and good ventilation; face paint is often a safer choice.
• Light: give every child a flashlight or glow stick, and stick to well-lit streets and sidewalks.
• Treats: eat a meal first, accept only commercially wrapped candy, and throw out anything with tears or pinholes. Also, remove choking hazards for young kids (FDA).
• Pets: keep chocolate and sugar-free candy with xylitol away from dogs and cats, and use a reflective collar and ID if pets go out after dark (ASPCA).
• Drivers: slow down in neighborhoods, especially between dusk and late evening.

Frequently Asked Questions