Overview
- Halloween is observed on October 31 each year, and in 2025 it falls on a Friday.
- New York City’s 52nd Greenwich Village Halloween Parade is planned to return to Sixth Avenue under the theme “Potluck,” with organizers expecting roughly 80,000 costumed participants and more than 2 million spectators.
- Salem, Massachusetts highlights its Haunted Happenings festival with parades, museum visits and cemetery tours, while New Orleans features French Quarter events and ghost tours including the St. Louis Cemetery site associated with Marie Laveau.
- Reporting traces the holiday to the Celtic Samhain festival later aligned with Christian observances of All Hallows’ Eve, with Irish immigrants carrying blended traditions to the United States.
- Common practices include dressing in costumes, carving jack‑o’‑lanterns and trick‑or‑treating, with coverage also noting strong U.S. candy sales and local curiosities such as age limits on door‑to‑door collecting and pumpkin‑lighting records.