The spookiest time of the year is back in Saskatchewan
Halloween is almost here, and we wanted to know how the folks in Saskatchewan would be celebrating this hair-raising holiday.
So, we ran an independent OnTopic® survey with 803 people from all over Saskatchewan with our online panel, SaskWatch Research®, earlier this month to learn how Sask. residents plan to spend their Halloween 2019.
In 2019, more than half of Saskatchewan residents (64%) plan on celebrating Halloween.
This is a slight increase since 2018, when 59% of Sask. residents said they’d be celebrating the holiday. In fact, it brings us almost back in line with the 66% of folks who planned on celebrating Halloween in 2017.
Who exactly will be getting in on the frightful festivities in 2019? This year, more Saskatchewan women (70%) plan on celebrating Halloween than men (58%), and folks with one or more children in their household (84%) will be celebrating much more often this year than folks without kids (53%).
Saskatoon and the northern parts of the province will be the Halloween hotspots this year, with 66% of respondents from both of those areas saying they plan on celebrating the haunted holiday.
That’s not to say residents in other parts of the province aren’t getting in on the fun – 61% of those from Regina and 64% of residents from southern parts of the province also plan on celebrating Halloween 2019.
So, how will Saskatchewan residents celebrate Halloween 2019?
When we asked folks who would be celebrating Halloween what they’d be getting up to, we got back a wide array of responses.
The most popular way to celebrate this year is hand out candy (77%), followed by decorate (47%), take the kids/grandkids trick or treating (42%), dress up in a costume (36%), watch a scary movie/TV show at home (30%) and eat your kids candy once they’ve gone to sleep (23%).
This is all in line with what Saskatchewan residents got up to on Halloween 2018 when their answers to the same question were hand out candy (75%), decorate (49%), take the kids/grandkids trick or treating (46%), dress up in a costume (38%), watch a scary movie/tv show at home (27%) and eat your kids candy once they’ve gone to sleep (23%).
One thing’s for sure, if you’re a kid this Halloween, you may want to sleep with your candy under your pillow!
A Halloween Grinch?
We also learned that there may actually be such a thing as a Halloween Grinch!
Not only may the Halloween Grinch exist, it turns out there may be more of them than there were last year. In 2018, 1% of respondents said they planned to turn out the lights and hide when the doorbell rings on Halloween night. This year, that number has grown to 3%.
Halloween cheer may not be for everyone, it seems.
Staying safe on Halloween
This Halloween, we wanted to know some of the ways Saskatchewan residents are keeping safe while they enjoy their macabre merrymaking.
The Top 5 common-sense practices Saskatchewan residents suggest include wearing bright/reflective clothing (31%), accompany children/supervised by adult (28%), check over candy (26%), go with a buddy/in groups (26%) and be aware of surroundings/watch for traffic (14%).
Some other suggestions we received were drive carefully/don’t drink and drive (11%), curfew/avoid after dark (8%), only go to houses with lights on (7%) and stay in well-lit areas/avoid dark areas (7%).
Remember to stay safe while you’re having fun on Halloween folks!
What age is too old to go trick or treating?
The age to hang up one’s pillowcase for good remains a topic for debate for Halloween 2019.
Almost one third of Saskatchewan residents say that you are never too old to trick or treat (31%), while a quarter say 11-13 years of age (25%) is the perfect age to give it up. Others state that 14 years old is the age to quit trick or treating (22%), and about the same number of residents think that 15 years old (7%) and 16 years old (7%) are the right age.
Still others debate that 10 years of age or younger (6%) should be the age to give up trick or treating, while some of those Halloween Grinches return to answer that kids shouldn’t be trick or treating anyway (2%).
One thing’s for sure, when Halloween night comes around, we’ll be out with our pillowcases and costumes – and some of us MAY bring our kids.
Maybe.
Who’s Halloween for anyway?
And speaking of kids and Halloween, there’s been some talk about who Halloween is for – the kids or adults?
We asked Saskatchewan residents what they thought, and we found out that Halloween is seen by many as a holiday for both kids and adults (58%). About one third of respondents say that it’s a holiday for kids (31%) while 0% said it was a holiday just for adults.
Those Halloween Grinches showed up again for this question too; 11% of Saskatchewan residents responded that Halloween is a silly holiday that’s not worth celebrating…
Tell us what you really think, why don’t you?
Top places to take the kids or grandkids trick or treating in Saskatchewan
When it came to top places to take the kids or grandkids out trick or treating, many of the answers we received were pretty unsurprising.
For the 42% of Halloween celebrators who planned to take kids or grandkids trick or treating, my/local neighbourhood/near home was the top trick or treating destination (29%), followed by the neighbourhood-unspecific (17%), around town/small town (13%), specific neighbourhood/town (12%) and friends/family houses (11%).
So what did we learn about SaskWatch members’ plans for Halloween 2019?
We learned that more than two thirds of SaskWatch Research members are heading out to celebrate Halloween this year. We also learned that more women than men will be celebrating (what’s the heck guys?), and that the Halloween Grinch may actually be a thing.
And one thing we learned for sure is that whether they’re staying home and watching scary movies on TV or hiding behind their couches when trick or treaters ring the bell, Halloween is sure to be a fun one in 2019.
Interested in participating in surveys like this one?
You can participate in fun surveys just like this one and have your say on issues that matter to all Saskatchewan residents by joining SaskWatch Research® like more than 18,000 other residents have already.
Whether it’s offering your opinions on business in the province, or giving your thoughts about the issues that affect everyone in Saskatchewan, SaskWatch Research is the best place to make your voice heard.
Head over to saskwatch.ca right away to register.
And if you’re already a SaskWatch member – Thank you! Have a fun and safe Halloween!
Research details
A total of 803 randomly selected SaskWatch Research® panel members participated in the online research study between October 8 and 10, 2019. Quotas were set by age, gender and region to match the general population of the province and as such the data did not need to be weighted.
Since the research is conducted online, it is considered to be a non-probability proportion sample; therefore, margins of error are not applicable.
