--- title: 4 Bizarre Reasons Your Kids Might Not Be Trick-or-Treating on Halloween description: Free candy may not be in the cards for kids in your neck of the woods on Friday night—for odd reasons ranging from polar bears to high school football. authors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2014-10-27T21:18:21.000Z' modified: '2024-04-16T04:37:44.000Z' section: Lifestyle tags: - costumes - Family - Football - freebies - halloween - Halloween costumes - kids - Sports word_count: 344 canonical: https://money.com/halloween-trick-or-treating-canceled/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![kid in polar bear costume](https://img.money.com/2014/10/141024_em_notrickortreat_2.jpg?crop=0px%2C137px%2C5201px%2C2926px&quality=85) Strange things are known to happen around Halloween, and this season is no exception. Here are a few weird reasons your child might not be trick-or-treating on October 31 this year: **Polar Bears** The community of [Arviat](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/polar-bears-push-halloween-activities-indoors-in-arviat-nunavut-1.2800268), on the Hudson Bay in far northern Canada, has decided it's too dangerous for children to go trick-or-treating door to door because of the increased presence of polar bears in the area in late autumn. Kids are welcomed to visit the community hall instead on Halloween for face painting and a [haunted house](https://money.com/haunted-house-discounts-halloween/ "6 Ways to Save on Halloween Haunted Houses"). Before assuming that one Halloween costume must be particularly popular up there, take note that no one in the area [dresses in polar bear outfits](http://www.the-peak.ca/2014/10/polar-bears-ruin-halloween-for-nunavut-children/) because patrols on watch are instructed to scare bears off with rubber bullets. “Nobody dresses up as seals" either, one local political leader explained, because they're what polar bears hunt and eat. **Alleged Cop Killer** Trick or treating has also been cancelled due to safety concerns in [Barrett Township, Pa.](http://www.poconorecord.com/article/20141009/NEWS/141009542/101010/NEWS) In this instance, it's because of worries about Eric Frein, who is suspected of killing one police officer and wounding another in a September ambush, and who is believed to be hiding in the woods outside town. **High School Football** This year, October 31 falls on a Friday—the day of the week that's dominated by high school football in many parts of the country. To avoid a conflict, communities all over states including [Ohio](http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/football-trumps-spirits-this-halloween-1.528105), [Texas](http://www.ketknbc.com/news/van-postpones-halloween-for-friday-night-football), [Pennsylvania](http://www.statecollege.com/calendar/event/2014-trick-or-treat-night-in-the-centre-region,37399/), [West Virginia](http://members.jacksonville.com/news/national/2014-10-22/story/no-trick-across-us-halloween-bumped-high-school-football), and [New Mexico](http://pvonlinenews.com/2014/10/16/artesia-moves-trick-or-treating-to-nov-1-due-to-halloween-football-game-in-roswell/) have rescheduled trick-or-treating to a day other than Friday. Most towns pushed up trick-or-treating to Thursday, October 30, but some have postponed it until Saturday—meaning [trick-or-treating in November](http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/nazareth/index.ssf/2014/10/nazareth_children_to_trick-or-.html). **They're Too Old** Apparently, the arrival of teens demanding candy at strangers' doors was enough to scare communities around the U.S.—notably, several in and around [Virginia Beach, Va.](http://hamptonroads.com/node/372501)—to put an age limit on when kids are too old for trick-or-treating. In most cases, laws allow only children ages 12 and under to go door-to-door in costume begging for candy, and it's a class four misdemeanor if you break the rules. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/halloween-trick-or-treating-canceled/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Lifestyle", "item": "https://money.com/lifestyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Family", "item": "https://money.com/family/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "4 Bizarre Reasons Your Kids Might Not Be Trick-or-Treating on Halloween" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/halloween-trick-or-treating-canceled/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/halloween-trick-or-treating-canceled/", "name": "4 Bizarre Reasons Your Kids Might Not Be Trick-or-Treating on Halloween", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2014-10-27T21:18:21.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/halloween-trick-or-treating-canceled/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/halloween-trick-or-treating-canceled/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-16T04:37:44.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "4 Bizarre Reasons Your Kids Might Not Be Trick-or-Treating on Halloween", "articleSection": "Lifestyle", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2014/10/141024_em_notrickortreat_2.jpg?crop=0px%2C137px%2C5201px%2C2926px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "141024_EM_NoTrickorTreat" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brad Tuttle", "url": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/#author", "description": "Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.\r\n\r\n", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/01/Brad-Tuttle.png?w=226&h=247&crop=1", "alumniOf": "Columbia University School of Journalism, MS", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle", "https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2014-10-27T21:18:21.000Z", "description": "Free candy may not be in the cards for kids in your neck of the woods on Friday night—for odd reasons ranging from polar bears to high school football.", "abstract": "Free candy may not be in the cards for kids in your neck of the woods on Friday night—for odd reasons ranging from polar bears to high school football.", "@id": "https://money.com/halloween-trick-or-treating-canceled/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-04-16T04:37:44.000Z", "wordCount": 344, "keywords": [ "costumes", "Family", "Football", "freebies", "halloween", "Halloween costumes", "kids", "Sports" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Lifestyle", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Family", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family" ] } ] } ] } ```