Overview

• Halloween falls on Friday, October 31, with children in Germany dressing up to collect sweets with the call “Süßes oder Saures,” while adults plan parties and themed nights.
• Children’s costume favorites in 2025 feature classics like witches, ghosts, vampires and skeletons, alongside pop-culture picks such as Wednesday and Harry Potter, with tips to swap polyester outfits for DIY, makeup-based looks or hand-sewn natural-fibre options.
• Parenting guidance advises costumes are fine from toddler sizes but discourages door-to-door rounds for small children and warns against very frightening outfits for under‑6s who may struggle to distinguish fantasy from reality.
• Essen’s lineup includes the Smag Halloween Horror Dance at Weststadthalle, a multi-hall party at Zeche Carl, a late-night screening of Halloween (1978) at the Lichtburg, themed cruises on the Baldeneysee and a Día de los Muertos evening at Finca & Bar Celona, with the Zombie-Walk still uncertain.
• Duisburg plans parties and events from Steinhof TanzBar and Parkhaus Meiderich to the briefly returning Pulp and Villa Rheinperle, plus a free outdoor dance event at the theater’s UFO, a costumed Halloween Run, the immersive Halloween-Haus in Oestrum and a family night at the zoo.