When does trick-or-treating start on Halloween? How early should kids start asking for candy, and when does that end?

Most communities don’t have official start and end times for trick-or-treating on Halloween, but typically the most popular times are between 5 and 8 p.m. Parents with younger children typically begin around 5 p.m., while it is still light. Most trick-or-treating begins around sunset, between 5:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. (In Syracuse, sunset is expected to be on Thursday, October 31, 2024 5:57 p.m.)

Typically, people keep handing out candy until they run out of sweet and chocolatey treats, but surveys reportedly show that most younger children come over at 8 p.m. (or earlier) and older children sometimes stay out until 9 p.m. – especially if The weather is as expected to be nice this year.

Since Halloween 2024 falls on a school night (Thursday), trick-or-treating will likely still end around 8 p.m. in most neighborhoods.

However, some places, like the city of Syracuse, strongly recommend specific times for trick-or-treating to start and end. The Neighborhood Watch Groups of Syracuse and the Syracuse Police Department recommend residents hand out candy on Halloween between 5 and 8 p.m

Safety tips from Neighborhood Watch Groups of Syracuse include:

• Carry a flashlight or glow stick
• Adults should accompany small children from house to house
• Don’t go out alone, use the buddy system
• Walk on the sidewalk, not the street, and obey traffic signals
• Stay in familiar neighborhoods
• Only approach homes with porch/door lights on
• Although tampering is rare, children should take candy home to check before eating. This also helps children who may have food allergies

Indoor trick-or-treating activities are also particularly popular with little ones. In Syracuse, Destiny USA welcomes costumed children for Spook-A-Thon fun in the Canyon area and trick-or-treating at participating stores on Thursday from 3 to 5 p.m.; For more information, visit destinyusa.com/spookathon.

Some groups have suggested making Halloween a two-day holiday, moving trick-or-treating to the Saturday before Oct. 31 and declaring it “National Trick-or-Treating Day.” Halloween, based on the ancient festival of All Saints Day, continued to be celebrated on the last day of October, making for two days of spooky fun.

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