Trick-or-Treat Splits: Worthington, Grandview Go Oct 31
Columbus and most suburbs trick-or-treat Thursday, Oct. 29, while Worthington and Grandview Heights wait for Halloween night. New Albany moved to Thursday. Status: Dates set.
Halloween lands on a Saturday this year, and central Ohio is handing out candy on two different nights. The City of Worthington has set trick-or-treat for Saturday, October 31, from 6 to 8 p.m., rain or shine, and its notice points out that Columbus and many neighboring communities go two nights earlier, on Thursday, October 29.
Worthington adds a note for households in the Worthington school district that sit inside Columbus city limits: go by the city you live in, which puts those streets on Thursday. Grandview Heights is also sticking with Halloween itself. Its city notice lists Saturday, October 31, from 6 to 8 p.m., and the Grandview Heights Public Library is running costume contests at 6:30, 7 and 7:30 p.m. that night.
The Thursday crowd sticks with the regional date that MORPC, the Mid-Ohio planning agency, recommends each year. Dublin spells out the formula on its trick-or-treat page: when October 31 falls on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, trick-or-treat moves to the Thursday before, and the date holds even in bad weather. Dublin goes from 6 to 8 p.m. Upper Arlington lists Beggar's Night on its city calendar for the same Thursday window, with police out in marked cars for the annual Pumpkin Patrol. Gahanna confirmed Thursday, October 29, without listing hours in its post.
New Albany is the one that changed. On September 29 the city moved trick-or-treat to Thursday, October 29, from 6 to 8 p.m., citing significant community feedback, and said it will use the regional date in future years too. Any schedule you saw earlier that put New Albany on Halloween is out of date.
For drivers, that means two evenings of costumed kids crossing side streets instead of one: Thursday across Columbus and the suburbs on the regional date, and Saturday in Worthington and Grandview Heights. If you are crossing between the two, slow down on both nights.
Need a warmup before the big night? Dublin's Halloween Spooktacular runs at Coffman Park on October 15 and 16, Halloween on the Green fills the Worthington Village Green on Friday, October 23, and the Great Gahanna Goblin Fest takes over Academy Park that same night. More local news lives on our Worthington and Grandview Heights pages.
