Halloween in the United States
When is Halloween in United States?
Halloween in United States is on October 31, 2024. It falls on Thursday.
How many days until Halloween in United States?
There are 181 Days left until Halloween in the United States.
Is Halloween a public holiday in United States?
Halloween is celebrated in the United States every October 31st of the year. It is not an official public or national holiday in the country; however, Americans usually celebrate this day together with family and friends on a yearly basis. Today, Halloween has become one of the massive cultural events recognized and celebrated not just in the US but to several other countries across the globe.
Since the day is not an official holiday in the United States, government offices, schools, public/private institutions, and businesses should continue to operate with their regular opening and closing hours.
Halloween Origin
Halloween (Hallowe’en) comes from the word “Hallows’ Even” or Hallows’ Evening”. It is also referred to as Allhalloween, meaning All Hallows’ Eve or All Saints Eve.
How did Halloween start?
Halloween has its origins from an ancient Celtic and pagan festival called Samhain. Samhain is a Gaelic festival celebrated by the ancient Celtic people to mark the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. This festival is held on November 1st; however, the celebration should already begin on the eve of October 31st – which explains why Halloween is observe on October 31. Traditionally, the Celtics celebrate this day by wearing costumes and lighting bonfires to scare the ghosts and other spirits away. They also believed that the boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead is at its thinnest on this day, thus, one can connect with the dead. This belief is mainly the reason why today’s Halloween has a “haunted” connotation on it.
Halloween Traditions
Halloween is one of the oldest festivals that is still celebrated nowadays. People from all around the world have their own share of interesting and exciting ways in celebrating such event, which usually include their friends and families. For the Americans, Halloween means donning on scary yet unique costumes, consuming large number of candies or other Halloween treats, and attending parties, parades, and other fun-filled activities arranged for the day.
Halloween events and parties
Huge Halloween events and parties are prevalent during Halloween in the United States. These social gatherings are commonly held on October 31 or in the weekends before and after this date. Adults and children typically wear scary costumes with make-ups and oftentimes do “trick-or-treat”. Trick-or-treat is a widespread practice all over the world where children and young adults visit neighborhood to ask for candies, snacks, sweets, gifts, or any other treats. Many adults celebrate Halloween by attending Halloween parties, watching horror movies, and making haunted houses or graveyards. Some Americans traditionally host Halloween parties and would even try to decorate their homes and backyards with Halloween figures such as pumpkins, Jack-o'-lanterns, cobwebs, lighting decor, bones, skulls, and many others. Friends, relatives, even co-workers are typically invited to these parties.
Halloween parades
Halloween parades are also observed in the United States. Parade-goers are seen donning on their preferred Halloween costumes. Most of the American adults portray themselves as witches/wizards, vampires, ghosts, cats, and so on. In the case of children, while there are those who don on scary looking outfits, most of the American kids would likely dress up as princesses (for the girls), as Spider-Man or Batman (for the boys), and other superhero costumes.
Although there are many Halloween parades organize across the country, the most notable is the one held in New York – the New York's Village Halloween Parade. This parade is considered the largest among all Halloween parades held worldwide. Thousands of marchers participate on this event while wearing their Halloween costumes, along with a huge number of marching bands, Halloween parade floats, large puppets, and others.
Traditional foods
A few of the most common and traditionally prepared foods during Halloween include candies, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, apple bread, caramel corn, and more. The candies are usually in high demand on the days leading to Halloween’s date of celebration in the United States.
| Year | Date | Day | Holiday |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | October 31 | Thursday | Halloween |
| 2025 | October 31 | Friday | Halloween |
| 2026 | October 31 | Saturday | Halloween |
| 2027 | October 31 | Sunday | Halloween |
| 2028 | October 31 | Tuesday | Halloween |
| 2029 | October 31 | Wednesday | Halloween |
| Holiday | Date |
|---|---|
| Mother's Day | May 12, 2024 |
| Memorial Day | May 27, 2024 |
| Father's Day | June 16, 2024 |
Download or print free 2024 calendar which includes the list of holidays in United States. Free holiday calendar templates in more than 130 countries are provided in PDF, Excel, and Microsoft Word format. For those who like to get a calendar that starts on Monday, we also have ISO calendar.
The May 2024 monthly calendar for the United States shows the holidays for the month, which is helpful in planning schedule and events in reference to the upcoming holidays in the US. It is available in PDF, Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel formats. You may select your preferred orientation and preferred start of week since we have Monday start calendar or Sunday start calendar.
If you are looking to print or download just a list of holidays in United States for the year 2024, we have that available in PDF, Word and Excel formats. This can be helpful for those who like to keep track of the holidays, be it for travel, work or any other purposes. It is free to use, just like the rest of our templates.