This Halloween Map Shows Where It’s Being Celebrated This Year
Though the Halloween spirit is in the air, there’s no need to be frightened if you haven’t nailed down your October 31st plans yet. There’s a map for that, with many fang-tastic events occurring near the end of October. Over 800 events to be exact, and they are happening all over the world. However, there are some cities, states, and even countries other than the United States that are creeping it more real than others when it comes to their Halloween spirit. So, grab your favorite treat or treating tots, your two boos – beaus and booze if you’re over your country’s drinking age – or your BFFs for a ghouls’ night out and check out which event on our Halloween 2018 Events map is closest to you.
View 2018 Halloween Events in a full screen map
We gathered all of the 2018 Halloween events from Eventful between October 30 and November 1, along with some spook-tacular stragglers – like the Golden Girls LIVE: On Stageǃ The “Lost” Halloween Episode, which starts running on September 12th – here and there. If your city, state, or country isn’t showing a whole lot of ghostly gatherings, don’t fret. There are some locations around the world that didn’t make the map because we don’t have their event data.
The Cities With the Most Halloween Events Are Sippin’ Cider All Month Long
- — New York City
- — Los Angeles
- — Minneapolis
Currently, the city doing the most in time for Halloween is New York City with its 66 holiday events. This shouldn’t spook you too much, as N.Y.C. is the most populous city in the United States. The city also hosts the annual Village Halloween Parade, where nearly 50,000 folks in costumes parade up Sixth Avenue. And as usual, when N.Y.C. is on the top of a list, L.A. is never far behind — like with the highest commute times. With 32 events, L.A. has the second-most going on. Third on our list is Minneapolis, where 14 different Halloween-themed events will be put on.
The top three cities with the most Halloween celebrations are located in the U.S. However, just because Halloween is most popular in the U.S., doesn’t mean Americans created the holiday. Halloween can be traced back to the Irish during the 19th century Great Irish Famine. They brought their holiday with them to the U.S. So, thanks to the Irish, we now have all of the annual Halloween events we’ve come to know and love.
Superstitious States in the Halloween Spirit
Forty-four U.S. states and the District of Columbia are holding at least one Halloween event this year. However, five states in particular are really turning up their Halloween spirit (at least on Eventful). The following states each have 24 or more events this Halloween.
- California
- New York
- Texas
- Florida
- Minnesota
Even though New York City had Los Angeles beat when it came to the cities playing Halloween hostess with the mostest, state-wise, California has 118 Halloween-themed events to New York’s 87 events. A little over 27% of those Golden State events are accounted for by Los Angeles, whereas just under 76% of New York’s events occur in The Big Apple. As for Texas, the state has 34 events on the calendar for Halloween-time, while Florida and Minnesota have 28 events and 24 events, respectively.
The six states without any Halloween events on the books in Eventful? Alaska, Delaware, North and South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Candy-Collecting Countries
Unlike Valentine’s Day celebrations, Halloween isn’t observed as enthusiastically all around the world as it in the U.S. However, these four countries have over ten celebratory events in honor of the holiday:
- The United Kingdom
- Germany
- Canada
- Australia
We learned here that “Halloween” can actually be accredited to the U.K., along with the idea of trick or treating, which may be why the U.K. has 160 different Halloween-themed events on our map, the most of any country other than the U.S. The term “Halloween” goes all the way back to 16th century Scotland, where it was first used as a shorter name for “All-Hallows-Eve.” As for trick or treating, this Halloween tradition comes from England. Long ago, Halloween was celebrated with “soul cakes” in England. These cakes were eaten while people prayed for the souls of the dead. Later called “souling,” children would go door to door saying prayers in exchange for delicious cakes.
The holiday didn’t gain popularity in Germany, the country with the second most Halloween-related events, until the 1990s. However, since then, its popularity has been steadily increasing, and this year, Germany has 47 events celebrating Halloween. This increase in popularity is mostly due to American influence, especially around the areas that were a part of the American zone during the Cold War. However, not every German is happy about their new holiday. Many elderly German folks do not like Halloween tricks and are unfamiliar with the idea of trick or treating.
As for the U.S.’s neighbor to the North, Halloween events in Canada are almost as popular as they are in Germany. This year, Canada has 36 celebrations in our dataset pertaining to the holiday. The popularity of the holiday in Canada is largely due to 19th-century Scottish emigration. Nowadays, Canadians spend more money on candy for Halloween than for any other time of year other than Christmas. Although, to balance out the increase in consumerism in October, Canadians also view Halloween as a time for charitable donations, even during trick or treating.
Australia, surprisingly, is home to 14 Halloween-themed events in our 2018 data, in spite of the fact that it is currently spring in the Land Down Under. Like Germany, Australia’s familiarity with the holiday stems largely from American influence, and also like Germany, not all of Australia is happy about it. Due to resentment of American influence, Australians have taken to putting balloons or other decorations on their mailboxes in order to indicate that they partake in the American holiday. No balloon, no candy.
Find the Spook-tacular Event Nearest You
If you’re curious about which Hallo-Wine Party, Monster Mash, or other 2018 Halloween celebration is closest to you, just check out the search box in the map.
For example, let’s say you live in one of these frightening places in the U.S., like Trickem, or Treat. Just type your city into the search box and hit enter. You can also search using your ZIP code or full address.
For those of you who live in Trickem, Alabama, you’ll discover through the search that the closest 2018 Halloween event is a 4-day Halloween camp in Montgomery and that it’s only about a half hour away. Residents of Treat, Georgia will find their closest event is a Halloween Riding Ghost Tour in Cave Spring, also just around 30 minutes away. Trickem or Treat, your Halloween fun awaits!
You can also narrow your search by the specific type – or types – of event(s) you’re hoping to attend. Filter the map first by type, and then search for your city, postal code, or address. Your results will include only the types of events you want to attend.
Now that we know where in the world Halloween is celebrated the most, we can pick which 2018 Halloween event we’ll be attending. You can make a map like this of all of the seasonal events going on in your city, state, or country, or, since the holidays are fast-approaching, you can even easily make a map of your holiday cards list.
