Witches, ghouls and elaborate lawn displays are helping stretch out Halloween to a season-long affair for some Canadians. According to a new poll commissioned by Mars Canada and conducted by Ipsos Canada, nearly half of Canadian adults surveyed, 49 per cent, said Halloween is no longer just a one-day event but a full season of fun. Another 47 per cent said it feels like it’s a bigger cultural event than in years prior. For Melanie Bercier and her husband, Jonah, the excitement is reflected in the ever-growing Halloween display outside their home in Ottawa’s Stittsville neighbourhood, where witches, hellhounds, oversized spiders and huge menacing pumpkin and vulture creatures greet visitors. “Every year we say, you know, we think we have enough, and then every year we change our minds and get something new,” says Melanie, noting this year’s addition of a large bubbling cauldron and a second ‘sister witch’. “It’s just an opportunity to be fun and dressed up. You can kind of be whatever you want to be and just enjoy the fun of it.” The poll found 42 per cent of Canadians get excited about Halloween well before October, while 41 per cent use and continue to prepare their Halloween decor throughout the year. “We don’t keep our decorations out year-round, but we do make some of our own,” says Bercier. “Like this wooden shed my husband made with old barn boards, where we keep our witch from the seven dwarfs. It’s made of old barn boards and comes apart into five pieces, so we can store it.” For children, costumes and candy remain a big part of the appeal. Leandra El Raz says she is excited for Halloween and particularly enjoys dressing up and getting ready to go trick-or-treating. “This year I think I might dress up, maybe like a spider girl thing, or a spider witch thing. I’m not sure yet,” she says. And with a wide selection of costumes at locally owned Party Mart, she took plenty of time to explore her options. “I really like this pastel-[coloured] sloth.” The survey found 75 per cent of Canadians buy Halloween candy, with 46 per cent saying they purchase most of their candy less than two weeks before the holiday. This year’s Halloween falls on a Saturday, giving trick-or-treaters and Halloween enthusiasts a weekend night to enjoy the festivities. The survey of 1,000 Canadian adults was conducted Sept. 29 to Oct. 1. Ipsos reported a credibility interval of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
