Because of the Nevada Day holiday landing on Saturday, Oct. 31, trick-or-treating in Carson City will be on Friday, Oct. 30 this year.
Halloween at the Governor’s Mansion also will be on Friday.
Before 2000, the Nevada Day Parade was always on Oct. 31 — the anniversary of the state’s admission to the union, and, coincidentally, Halloween.
In order to keep the children out of the way of any revelers drunk with state pride, trick-or-treating was moved to Oct. 30.
When the 1999 Legislature decided to observe Nevada Day on the last Friday in October, and the Nevada Day Parade on the last Saturday of the month, Halloween returned to being celebrated on Oct. 31.
And that’s how it has been. Sort of.
When Halloween and the parade both fall on Saturday, Oct. 31, as they did in 2008 and this year, trick-or-treating moves to Oct. 30.
In most years to come, Halloween will be celebrated on Oct. 31. It will move to Oct. 30 again in 2020, 2026 and 2037.