Once upon a time, Halloween was a one-day event. Then the pumpkins and parties started moving back to the weeks between Columbus Day and October 31.
Now the holiday is morphing into an entire season, at least in the tourism industry, with haunted walks, costume balls and pumpkin-carving events held throughout October. Some even start in early September, like Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party at Disney World, which starts September 5 — just four days after Labor Day. In 2004, the same event at Disney World started October 1.
The Illinois Bureau of Tourism has gone so far as to trademark the term “Fall-O-Ween” to describe what it calls the state’s “distinctive fifth season.” Events range from the Morton Pumpkin Festival, September 10-13, to Six Flags Great America’s “Fright Fest,” which starts October 4, to the St. Charles Scarecrow Festival, October 10-12. A Web site highlighting three-day getaways in Illinois for the season launched this month.
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