weezypenguin

We currently live in Canada and are moving to Brisbane in a few weeks.
In Canada Halloween is a big deal. I just wondered if it was in Australia.
Thanks

Amazulu

It's not but some retailers are pushing it bigtime to make it so

cha-ching!

PunkDebutante

I am from the US and spent the last decade in the UK and Halloween was one of the holidays I really missed there. I have been told that it is even less important here in Brisbane than it was in the UK so I am not holding out hope. In a decade in the UK, I only had 4 trick or treaters and they weren't even on the right night.

comet555

When we moved from Canada I was really disappointed that they didn't really do Halloween in Brisbane. The first year (2007) I took my kids to the shopping centre during the day where they had a list of shops that were giving out candy. That was just depressing, so didn't do it again. That first year we didn't have any trick-or-treaters.

The second year we had about five and the third year (2009) we had about 15 mostly teenagers that were having a party down the block. I would say it was starting to catch on though. No one really did any decorations though and there wasn't as much Halloween stuff (costumes, treats, decoration) as in Canada. The first year I couldn't even find costumes in the usual places and had to find a Toys R' Us. By the third year I was able to find more in the regular shops (grocery & big box stores).

There was also a street party (or something) out in Manly, east side of Brisbane. Never went to it though so can't comment.
http://www.manlyharbourvillage.com/halloween-party

eddie007

there are pockets of Sockingham where Halloween is becoming quite popular... Not surprising as according to some it is Australias equivilant of Hell on Earth...

When we were kids the house next door was rented to USAF service personnel, and their parents ALWAYS took me and me sister trick or treating on the base.. that was back in the 70's when Halloween only involved apple bobbing for us pommie kids in the uk....

which is probably why when I go to the local English Sweet shop I'm buying American candy and not british sweets...

Kim67

There are pockets in our suburb and adjoining ones that go all out. Our street puts in on for the kids - everyone puts their orange ribbon outside their houses and the kids knock on those doors. It was quite big while we were in Dubai and I told the kids not to expect anything last year when we came back to Brisbane but they had a really big night with friends and came home with lots of loot that subsequently went in the bin when I cleaned out their rooms. Halloween lollies are so gross.

carzinoz

My Aussie mates don't seem too keen on the idea, seeing it as an american tradition and not being aware of UK (or mabye it's a Scottish thing?) guysing.

I think they're put off by the idea of trick or treat and think this might mean kids causing trouble but the primary school does a halloween disco every year, the kids love it!

deb68

Kids in masks means trouble at your door in England anyway, usually if you tell them bugger off they egg your house or worse brick your windows later on.
I am glad in a lot of ways that it's not seen as a traditional thing here, same as the dreaded bonfire night (god i hated that month)

Japonica

This will be our first one in the new suburb which has many more British migrants than our previous one.

I think it's slowly catching on, if anything as an excuse for the kids to try and pester Aussies for candy. I've heard Aussies complaining about it, saying it's un-Australian and that the kids should not be out and about. Last year, there were a few moms and kids from the local primary school who went to a few houses, but the kids were also running up to houses that to me, looked as if they wanted nothing to do with it--no decorations, nothing.

Then on the way back, someone came running out of an undecorated house saying, "Wait! Wait!" so I guess you can't tell.

I think we had 15 kids come to our house looking for sweets.

And yes, some shopping centres do hold some kind of events. Our neighbor used to do a party every year as well.

If you want to participate, put up some decorations (my daughter is bugging me to drop a bundle at Dusk with all their ghost and pumpkin candles), carve a pumpkin, whatever. If anything, it'll be a way to tick off the curmudgeons in the neighborhood that Australia is going to hell in a handbasket just because of kids having the nerve to go trick-or-treating.

But don't expect it to be anything like Canada. It won't be. Not even close.

Coppock

Hi, I went a few years ago and arrived on Halloween,
there were some young kids (10 years and under) knocking around the shops with their parents dressed up, going to restaurants etc, but that was all I saw going on...

spadgersdad

Hi
We live in Thornlands on the Bayside, where we live there are quite a few kids come round trick or treating. We always buy a big bucket of goodies which are always gone before the end of the night.

al150n

We had a couple of kids turn up at the front door last year. We were expecting more having been inundated with trick or treaters in the UK.

We've got a Halloween party to go to this year organised by the kids karate club. Just need to get a costume sorted for me

Alison x

DeadVim

Month? I had fireworks chucked in my garden in the UK in the height of summer. From September on it was hell in chavsville.

I had not even thought about halloween or bonfire night for years until I read this thread.

Living in this area here means nobody approaches the house unless they are regularly walk the dog.

Or they are religious and therefore obviously mentally retarded.

Pollyana

My sister's two girls came racing in yesterday yelling "Dad theres someone at the door for you" When he had got up and gone to see who it was they calmly informed me it was a Jehovah's Witness. I asked why they hadn't just said "No thanks" and they told me that because their Dad had annoyed them the day before they thought it was only fair to condemn him to the doorstep for a while. They had also told the JW's that their dad always liked chatting to them about God :rofl; He reappeared 20 minutes later, muttering darkly

Dorothy

No. The one thing both my kids and the old man agree they miss is Hallowe'en.