By: Parker Wright
On the night before Halloween, kids in Iowa earn their treats with jokes, bringing laughter and community spirit to the streets.
Each year, as October hits, Halloween’s ‘horrific’ excitement begins. For adults, it’s a couple of weeks of parties, fun costumes, drinking, and horror attractions — everyone gets their spooky on.
Due to severe weather, 2024 was the first year since 1938 that children in one Midwest state trick-or-treated on Oct. 31. While it is typical for most of the country to celebrate Halloween that night, central Iowa has the unique tradition of Beggar’s Night on Oct. 30.
History of Beggar’s Night
In the early 1930s, Des Moines was hit by a wave of criminal mischief and vandalism citywide, especially on Halloween night. As crime rates rose across the city, community members grew increasingly concerned over the safety of children out trick-or-treating.
City officials and police considered many options, including banning trick-or-treating altogether.
Des Moines Playground Director —a subdivision of the Parks and Recreation Department— Kathryn Krieg is credited with coming up with the idea of Beggar’s Night, where trick-or-treating is moved to the night before Halloween so police can allocate more resources to stopping crime on Halloween night instead of focusing on trick-or-treaters.
On Oct. 30, 1938, Des Moines instituted the first Beggar’s Night, with many unsure if it would go well. Despite the doubts, the first Beggar’s Night proved successful, and Des Moines also saw a drop in crime on Halloween.
In 1940, the city passed a resolution that told homeowners only to hand out candy on Oct. 30.
The success of Beggar’s Night in Des Moines prompted other Iowa cities to follow suit by instituting similar ordinances. These cities also reported a drop in crime rates after the change. A Des Moines Tribune article published in October of 1940 promised “that there be fun galore” on Beggar’s Night. Krieg, the architect of the tradition, died in 1999 but was honorably inducted into the National Recreation and Park Association Hall of Fame in 2005.
Beggar’s Night Today
Beggar’s Night remains a popular tradition across central Iowa today. It works exactly like trick-or-treating, with children dressing up and going house-to-house to collect candy, but it emphasizes children’s need to earn their candy. In most cases, children tell jokes.
“My son, he’s 10, he starts working on the jokes he is going to tell during the summer,” said Katherine Pederson, a Des Moines native. “He writes down all his jokes and brings the list with him when he goes [trick-or-treating] for Beggar’s Night. He tries to tell a different joke at each house.”
Pederson has three children, ages five to ten. Her entire family loves Beggar’s Night, which she said encourages more creativity and makes trick-or-treating more interactive.
Tracey Watts, another resident of Des Moines, said it’s nice for her daughter to have a night for her, and it allows the adults to do their own activities on Halloween.
“Either my husband or I take her trick-or-treating and the other stays back to hand out candy, then the next day we go and celebrate with other adult friends, and we all hire a babysitter to watch our children,” Watts said. “It’s like Beggar’s [Night] is for the kids, and the grown-ups get Halloween. It works out perfectly.”
Watts and Pederson both said there isn’t a need to do Beggar’s Night anymore, like when it was first invented. They aren’t worried about crime, and there’s nothing wrong with going trick-or-treating on Halloween night, but they would like to see the tradition kept alive. Communities around the state, especially central Iowa, continue to host annual Beggar’s Night celebrations.
“It makes Des Moines and Iowa stand out,” Pederson said. “It makes us unique. I hope it continues. I would like my kids to take their kids trick-or-treating on Beggar’s Night one day down the road.”