Halloween 2026 Fell on a Saturday, Then Clocks Fell Back: Sunset and Dark Times by City

Halloween 2026 fell on Saturday, Oct. 31, the first Saturday Halloween since 2020, and the clocks fell back a few hours later. Trick-or-treaters headed out under a moonless sky: the Moon did not rise until about 11 p.m. in most U.S. cities. Then, at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1, daylight saving time ended and the clocks went back to 1 a.m., handing most of the country an extra hour after the parties.

Sunset and dark on Halloween 2026

“Dark” here is the end of civil twilight, when the sky is too dim to read outdoors without light. Times are local daylight time from the U.S. Naval Observatory; Phoenix stays on standard time all year.

City	Sunset	Dark	Moonrise
New York, NY	5:53 p.m.	6:22 p.m.	10:59 p.m.
Boston, MA	5:39 p.m.	6:08 p.m.	10:41 p.m.
Philadelphia, PA	5:59 p.m.	6:27 p.m.	11:06 p.m.
Washington, DC	6:09 p.m.	6:36 p.m.	11:17 p.m.
Atlanta, GA	6:46 p.m.	7:12 p.m.	after midnight
Miami, FL	6:40 p.m.	7:04 p.m.	after midnight
Detroit, MI	6:27 p.m.	6:56 p.m.	11:32 p.m.
Chicago, IL	5:46 p.m.	6:15 p.m.	10:52 p.m.
Minneapolis, MN	6:02 p.m.	6:33 p.m.	11:05 p.m.
Dallas, TX	6:37 p.m.	7:02 p.m.	11:57 p.m.
Houston, TX	6:35 p.m.	7:00 p.m.	11:59 p.m.
Denver, CO	5:59 p.m.	6:27 p.m.	11:12 p.m.
Phoenix, AZ	5:37 p.m.	6:03 p.m.	11:00 p.m.
Seattle, WA	5:53 p.m.	6:25 p.m.	10:57 p.m.
San Francisco, CA	6:12 p.m.	6:39 p.m.	11:31 p.m.
Los Angeles, CA	6:01 p.m.	6:27 p.m.	11:24 p.m.

In the East and Midwest it was fully dark by about 6:30 p.m., so younger children who trick-or-treated at dusk had barely half an hour of daylight left after sunset. In Atlanta, Miami and Texas it stayed light until nearly 7 p.m.

A Saturday Halloween, and when the next one is

Weekday Halloweens squeeze trick-or-treating between school, work and bedtime. A Saturday frees up the afternoon and the next morning. The last Saturday Halloween was in 2020; after 2026 the next is in 2037, because the calendar’s weekday pattern skips Saturday for a decade.

Trick-or-treat hours are set locally, by each city or town.

The extra hour came after Halloween

Nothing changed on the clock during trick-or-treating. The switch happened at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1, when clocks went back to 1 a.m. and standard time returned, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. For anyone still up, the 1 a.m. hour happened twice, and Sunday was 25 hours long.

Most phones change on their own; oven and car clocks may not. Hawaii and most of Arizona do not observe daylight saving time. Our daylight saving time report covers the switch, and the when does daylight saving time end page lists future dates.

The Moon on Halloween

The Hunter’s Moon was full on Oct. 26, five days earlier, so on Halloween night the Moon was a waning gibbous, about 63% lit. It rose late, around 11 p.m. in most cities, which made the trick-or-treat hours unusually dark. Reflective tape, glow sticks or a small flashlight help drivers see children.

Is Halloween a holiday? What is open

Halloween is not a federal holiday, so nothing closes for it. The 11 federal holidays are set by law and listed by the Office of Personnel Management; the Federal Reserve’s holiday calendar, which banks follow, does not include Oct. 31 either. In 2026 Halloween was a Saturday, so the usual Saturday schedule applied: the Postal Service delivered mail and banks kept their Saturday hours. Stores set their own hours. The stock market was closed, as on every Saturday. World Series Game 7, if the series went the distance, was scheduled to start at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) that night; see the World Series 2026 schedule.

What follows Halloween

Halloween weekend ran straight into Día de los Muertos on Nov. 1 and 2; our Day of the Dead 2026 guide has the dates and traditions. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. For the date of Halloween in other years, see when is Halloween, and look back at the month on an October 2026 calendar. The free printable below lists sunset, dark and moonrise for all 16 cities with room to plan your route. Hosting at home instead? Our witches’ brew punch recipe is nonalcoholic and keeps the dry ice out of the drink.

Trick-or-treat hours are set town by town; our story on what time trick-or-treating starts lists published schedules.