Halloween night is always a special one in B.C. and beyond, with its traditions of fireworks and giving away candy to costumed tricksters.
And, in what has become an annual tradition of its own, the CBC is once again teaming up with the Simon Fraser University City Program to run a neighbourhood treat tracker.
The City Program promotes citizen involvement in civic issues and its director, Andy Yan, says Halloween remains one of the best ways to track how the “spirit” of civic participation manifests in different neighbourhoods.
The treat tracking form this year has its usual questions about how many trick-or-treaters you saw and what kind of candy you handed out, but it has a couple of additional ones, too.
Those who fill it out will also be asked the optional question of whether they voted in this year’s provincial election.
“My whole theory is, Halloween is about civic engagement,” Yan said. “The people that do trick-or-treating are more civically engaged.”
We’re also including a new question about advance trick-or-treat events, as Yan says more families are participating in the activity before Halloween night itself.
And, the form brings back a question about inflation, and whether it’s affecting your Halloween.
How to participate
To help find the neighbourhood in B.C. with the most treats, fill out this form with the number of trick-or-treaters who came to your house on Thursday night.
Count the number of costumed visitors that came knocking on your door, tell us what you gave them, and show us how you prepared for their arrival.
Then, watch as a colour-coded map reveals the Halloween hotspots and no-shows across B.C.
To get an idea of how it works, you can view last year’s results at this link.
Historically, the Douglas Park neighbourhood in Vancouver and the Queen’s Park neighbourhood in New Westminster have seen the greatest volume of visitors.
From elaborately decorated houses to one-of-a-kind costumes, Vancouver’s Douglas Park neighbourhood was once again a Halloween hot spot this year, with hundreds of families and children going door-to-door to collect candy.