When is Beggars’ Night 2024? These are trick-or-treat times in Des Moines

On By Yukito

play

It’s almost time for the spookiest of all Iowa traditions: Beggar’s Night! Halloween festivities usually take place on the evening of October 30 in the Des Moines metro area, with trick-or-treaters filling the streets.

The tradition began about 80 years ago to curb the violence and vandalism that had become an annual problem on Halloween night in Des Moines.

And don’t forget that kids have to tell a joke to get the treat.

Some towns in central Iowa have moved Beggar’s Night to the last Saturday in October

In 2023, some cities have decided to celebrate Beggars’ Night even earlier than October 30, organizing the annual celebration on the last Saturday of October instead of on a weekday evening. Bondurant started this trend in 2022, and another community followed suit.

Mayor Mike Jones of Windsor Heights previously told the Register that parents are inconvenienced by Beggar’s Night falling on a weekday, which happens more than half the time on Oct. 30.

“Children will probably be up past their normal bedtime because they have classes in the morning, and they probably won’t even want to go to bed,” Jones said in an email to the Register. “That’s why it was proposed to make it a fixed day closest to Halloween – or sometimes even Halloween – which would eliminate all these problems.”

Here is a list of Beggar’s Night dates and times in various central Iowa communities if you and your family are looking for a sweet and spooky night.

When is Halloween trick-or-treating time on Saturday, October 26?

  • Binding agent: 18:00-20:00
  • Windsor Hills: 18:00-20:00

When is the Halloween trick-or-treat time for Beggar’s Night on Wednesday, October 30?

  • Altona: 18:00-20:00
  • Ankeny: 18:00-20:00
  • Clive: 18:00-20:00
  • Des Moines: 18:00-20:00
  • Indianola: 18:00-20:00
  • Johnston: 18:00-20:00
  • Norwalk: 18:00-20:00
  • Pleasant Hill: 18:00-20:00
  • Urbandale: 18:00-20:00
  • Waukee: 18:00-20:00
  • West Des Moines: 18:00-20:00

When is Halloween trick-or-treating time on Thursday, October 31st?

  • Ames: 17:30-19:30
  • Grimes: 18:00-20:00
  • Winter set: 17:00-19:00

Victoria Reyna-Rodriguez is a general assignment reporter at the Register. Contact her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @VictoriaReynaR.