Halloween 2027: Sunday, October 31
Halloween is on October 31 every year. In 2027, that is a Sunday. The countdown above aims at midnight, at the start of the day. For trick-or-treating, set the time to the evening, for example 6:00 PM, and the countdown tells you how long is left before the doorbell starts ringing.
Where Halloween comes from
Its roots go back to Samhain, a Celtic festival that marked the end of the harvest and the start of winter. The Celts believed that on the night of October 31, the ghosts of the dead could come back to earth. In the 8th century, Pope Gregory III set All Saints’ Day on November 1. The evening before became All Hallows’ Eve, later shortened to Halloween.
Trick-or-treating grew out of older European customs, such as “souling”, when poor people went from house to house and received soul cakes in exchange for prayers. It took its modern American form between the 1920s and the 1950s, before spreading around the world.
October 31 in the coming years
| Year | Day of the week |
|---|---|
| 2027 | Sunday |
| 2028 | Tuesday |
| 2029 | Wednesday |
| 2030 | Thursday |
| 2031 | Friday |
| 2032 | Sunday |
| 2033 | Monday |
In the United States, daylight saving time ends on the first Sunday in November, less than a week after Halloween. So on October 31, the sun still sets on daylight time, and the first trick-or-treaters go out in the last light of the day. The daylight saving time page gives the exact date of the change.
Ideas for the countdown
- Order costumes early: popular ones sell out in the last two weeks.
- Carve the pumpkin a few days before: a carved pumpkin does not keep long, so not too early.
- Throw a party and share the countdown with your guests, renamed “Haunted house opens”.
- Time the treats: the online timer helps when baking spooky cookies.