Oswego Extends Trick-Or-Treating Hours For Social Distancing

Abhinanda Datta
·3 min read

OSWEGO, IL — With the ongoing pandemic, Halloween in Oswego will look different this year. With that in mind, the village has decided to extend trick-or-treating hours to facilitate greater social distancing.

This year, trick-or-treating in the village will be from 2:30-8 p.m. on Oct. 31.
To ensure additional safety, the village announced the following guidelines for the day:

  • If you or someone in your house is ill, do not go trick-or-treating or give out candy to trick-or-treaters.

  • Wear a face mask. Face masks that are a part of Halloween costumes will not protect you or others from coronavirus particles as effectively as a regular cloth or surgical facemask.

  • Stay at least six feet apart from other trick-or-treaters not in your household.

  • Do not visit homes that are not participating in trick-or-treating. Residents should turn their porch light on if they are participating, and off if they are not.

  • Parents should accompany children to ensure that trick-or-treaters are following appropriate health and safety guidelines.

  • Consider facilitating one-way trick-or-treating. Place individually wrapped treats out on a table near the sidewalk or at the end of your driveway for children to grab and go.

"The Village of Oswego is encouraging all residents to choose safer ways of celebrating Halloween this year to help stop the spread of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control has identified traditional trick-or-treating has a high-risk activity that can promote the spread of COVID-19. Therefore, the Village of Oswego encourages residents to make a conscious decision this year on whether or not to participate in trick-or-treating," the village wrote in a release.

According to CDC, the following are the higher risk activities that should be avoided during Halloween to help prevent the spread of the virus:

  • Participating in traditional trick-or-treating where treats are handed to children who go door to door.

  • Attending crowded costume parties held indoors.

  • Having trunk-or-treat where treats are handed out from trunks of cars lined up in large parking lots.

  • Going to an indoor haunted house where people may be crowded together and screaming.

  • Going on hayrides or tractor rides with people who are not in your household.

  • Traveling to rural fall festival that is not in your community if you live in an area with community spread of COVID-19.

For more from CDC, visit here.

Trick-or-Treating Alternatives

  • Residents are encouraged to celebrate with lower-risk activities, like pumpkin carving, decorating, scary movie nights, and scavenger hunts with people in your household.


  • Celebrate fall in Oswego in a safer, socially distanced way. The Community Drive-Around Scavenger Hunt will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. on Oct. 17, with check-in between 12:15 and 12:30 p.m. This family-friendly event offers a chance for your ghosts and goblins to dress up, decorate the car, and explore the Oswego community. Form a team from members of your household, and drive through town following clues and snapping photos of your family with Halloween props. Up to $100 in gift certificates will be awarded. Registration is $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Net proceeds benefit the Kendall County Food Pantry. More details available here.


  • Patch has also compiled a list of the best area pumpkin patches for this year.

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This article originally appeared on the Oswego Patch