What is Beggars' Night? All you need to know about the updated schedule of Des Moines annual tradition in wake of postponement
Des Moines' annual Beggars' Night tradition has been postponed due to weather concerns. The tradition, originally supposed to be held on Wednesday, October 30, will now be shifted to the following October 31, aka Halloween night. Due to the possibility of severe storms, for the first time since 1938, Beggars' Night will take place from 6-8 pm on Thursday.
Unlike most of the country, kids in Des Moines, Iowa, have been going for trick-or-treating on October 30, a day before Halloween, since 1938. The tradition, called Beggars' Night, is the same as Halloween trick-or-treating, aside from the fact that trick-or-treaters are expected to joke before getting their candy.
Des Moines postpones Beggars' Night for the first time since 1938
As mentioned above, far removed from the rest of the country, Des Moines, Iowa, did its trick-or-treating a day before Halloween. According to The Associated Press, the tradition resulted from a former city parks director's suggestion to make the practice more fun and wholesome for kids and reduce vandalism and hooliganism.
Beggars' Night was a great success. According to the State Historical Society of Iowa, due to the concerns raised by the high volume of vandalism and mischief on Halloween night, trick-or-treating in Des Moines was shifted to October 30 for the safety of children. The resulting drop in vandalism and criminal activity on Halloween night cemented Beggars' Night as an annual tradition.
Although the tradition initially required trick-or-treaters to showcase further entertainment like songs or poetry, it eventually became a practice for kids to simply tell a joke before being rewarded with some candy. This year, kids from Des Moines, Iowa, will be going trick-or-treating on Halloween for the first time since Beggars' Night was established post-Halloween 1938.
Although the tradition will be postponed, it will run from the same time of 6 pm to 8 pm. Some of the suburbs of Iowa's capital city, which adopted the practice, have also decided to shift the tradition to Thursday this time around. As per We Are Iowa, 13 Iowa metro cities have moved Beggars' Night to Thursday due to concerns about potentially dangerous weather.
According to We Are Iowa, the City of Des Moines confirmed that all it took for the shift to happen was a discussion with the National Weather Service and a simple announcement. Deputy City Manager for the City of Des Moines, Matt Anderson, told the outlet:
"Seeing that, it's going to be potentially a dangerous situation with lightning, we just thought it was in everybody's best interest to give as much notice to the families as possible so they can arrange their schedules,"
Assistant City Manager Jen Schulte told AP that, to her knowledge, Beggars' Night had never been moved or cancelled ever since its establishment. She also added:
"However, the safety of our residents, families and children is always our top priority and led to the change in this year’s scheduled Beggars’ Night."
According to the Des Moines Register, the weather forecast for Wednesday showcases a high of 75 degrees and a low of 44 degrees. It is expected to continuously rain from Tuesday evening to Wednesday, with the National Weather Service predicting Wednesday to have a 100% chance of rain.
According to the NWS, Wednesday afternoon will see possible strong to severe thunderstorms, with Des Moines having a "marginal risk" of severe weather, including heavy winds and a chance of a tornado. Quite contradictingly, Thursday is expected to be mostly sunny, with a high of 53 and a low of 34.
According to KCCI 8, apart from Des Moines, the Iowa cities that shifted trick-or-treating from Wednesday to Thursday include Altoona, Ankeny, Carlisle, Clive, Cumming, Indianola, Johnston, Melcher Dallas, Norwalk, Polk City, Urbandale, Waukee, and West Des Moines.