At this time of year, I often see a question which never fails to perplex me. Many people feel the need to ask, "when is Halloween?" 

That's like asking when is Christmas or when is the Fourth of July. There’s a set date for Halloween. It’s not a holiday with a variable date like Easter. Halloween is always Oct. 31, just like Christmas is always Dec. 25 and July 4 is, you guessed it, July 4. 

Now, I understand that when people ask when is Halloween, they’re really asking when is the acceptable day for trick-or-treating. And yes, I realize that for some businesses, schools or other organizations, Oct. 31 doesn’t always fall on the ideal day of the week for celebrating. There’s nothing wrong with celebrating on multiple days around the end of October. After all, who wouldn’t want multiple days with the option of getting free candy?

But Oct. 31 is always Halloween and, as such, should always be an appropriate day for trick-or-treating and other Halloween-related activities regardless of when it falls. Why do people rely on the government or the newspaper or some other entity to tell them when to celebrate a holiday which always falls on the same date? 

I can tell you, Halloween this year is on Oct. 31. Halloween next year will be on Oct. 31. The year after that, Halloween will be on Oct. 31, and so on. In an already complicated world, why do we want to over complicate things that don’t need to be? 

Asking when Halloween is makes as much sense to me as asking what the theme of the Christmas parade should be. I realize I’ve ranted about this before and I don’t think I’ll ever stopped being slightly annoyed by it. Why does the Christmas parade need a theme? The theme is already there in the title. It’s Christmas. There are so many different ways you can go with that - religious, songs, movies, TV shows, snow, characters, etc. Why, in the name of helping people be more creative, would you want to limit creativity and ensure a very narrow variety of floats? But I digress. 

Let’s stop confusing things by trying to make Halloween any other day than the one which every calendar marks as Halloween. Halloween has been and always will be Oct. 31. That's when I'll be prepared with candy for the hundreds of trick-or-treaters who annually descend upon my front porch.

Thankfully it’s been deemed appropriate by the powers that be to celebrate Halloween on Halloween this year, but I’m sure in future years, we’ll encounter a time when it’s decided that Halloween needs to be officially celebrated on a different day. And then I’ll have another column topic. Here’s wishing everyone a safe and happy Oct. 31.

Standard Managing Editor Seth Wright can be reached at editor@southernstandard.com