Halloween

Happy October! Halloween is right around the corner, and while in the United States that means pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin patches, carving pumpkins, and, well, pumpkin everything, it is noticeably pumpkin-free in New Zealand. That’s not to say that Halloween is non-existent, but it is not the big blowout here that it is in the States. Also - note the seasonal differences. It is spring in New Zealand, so no big pumpkin crop in October.

Costumes are readily available - You shouldn’t have any problems finding costumes. Stores such as Farmer’s, Spotlight, The Look Sharp Store, Costume World, The Warehouse, and Kmart all stock up this time of year, though to be fair they typically have costumes year round and this is certainly the most expensive time to buy.

Trick or treating isn’t universal - do not assume that many houses are handing out candy. If a house is handing out candy, the house will be decorated for Halloween. Its kind of like a secret code word. Got fake spider webs? Handing out candy.

Community Halloween parties are a thing - many villages (aka small commercial centers) scattered about town hold Halloween parties where the stores will pass out candy/small toys during a set time. There are also events at community centers and some churches. You can check on Facebook and Eventfinda for a full list, but a few I know about are: Remuera Baptist Church, Bayswater Halloween Trail, Henderson Halloween Ride, Pokeno Crossroads Church, Mt. Eden Halloween in the Village, St. Heliers Trick the Light, Spooks and Sparks at the Trust Arena, Titirangi Kids Halloween Party, Massey’s Playcenter Community Halloween Disco, Mt. Albert YMCA Day of the Dead Family Party, and the Starling Parks Sports Club Trail.

Halloween is a young kids’ event - I think the oldest trick or treaters I saw last year were 9, maybe 10. There weren’t any bands of teenagers out and about, looking for free sugar.

Schools don’t embrace Halloween - unlike in the US, there’s no dressing up for school or much in the way of school celebration. My daughter’s preschool does have some spider art up, but that may equally have to do with some of the staff recently being scared to death by a spider they were trying to put into a terrarium in the kids’ nature corner.

Last year - because there was no mention of Halloween at school - I thought I got away with completely ignoring Halloween. Then, around dinner time, my kids caught sight of some other kids walking around in costume and BAM! Within minutes I had a fully dressed Darth Vader and princess-caticorn ready to go out. I’ve never seen my kids get dressed that fast. Fortunately, there were only a few houses within walkable distance handing out candy, so we got about ten pieces of candy each and called it a night.

Adult Halloween-themed events do exist - but they’re probably not the crazy, chaps wearing events you remember from the US. Two of my favorites in the lineup are:

Fright Night at the Dome - which is a Halloween themed planetarium show (with cocktails!)

The Sickening Ball - Ru Paul’s Drag Race winners + Halloween. Anyone want to go to this with me? It’s featuring the cast from season 11!

There are plenty of clubs with costumes encouraged and even some scary looking haunted house experiences, like Spookers - which has a kids’ trick or treating event on Halloween, too. However, these aren’t all-consuming, heavily marketed events. While speaking with long time Aucklanders, they note that twenty years ago no one celebrated Halloween. It is a very new phenomenon that people still look at and shrug. There’s a general understanding that this is an imported American holiday that doesn’t mean much… yet. Talk to me in ten years and we’ll see how big Halloween is.