Spooked by storm, Montreal postpones Halloween festivities
Municipalities across Quebec call for trick-or-treating to be delayed due to weather
Montreal is joining several municipalities across Quebec in urging trick-or-treaters to delay going door-to-door for Halloween until Friday, due to a scary weather forecast that includes heavy rain and high winds.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante made the announcement on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon.
Environment Canada has issued a rainfall warning for the city and area, calling for between 40 and 70 millimetres of rain with winds gusting to 80 kilometres per hour between Thursday night and Friday morning.
The weather agency warns that people should be on the lookout for flash floods and water accumulation on the roads.
And yet, some 500 kilometres to the northwest in Rouyn-Noranda, 15 to 25 centimetres of snow are expected, but there are no plans in that community to cancel trick-or-treating.
Avis météo: j’invite les petits et grands Montréalais.e.s à passer l’<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Halloween?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Halloween</a> vendredi en raison de la pluie et des vents violents annoncés demain. Nos services seront au rendez-vous, et faites preuve de prudence comme à l’habitude. Bonne cueillette de bonbons! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/polmtl?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#polmtl</a> <a href="https://t.co/B0CKoP7mu0">pic.twitter.com/B0CKoP7mu0</a>
—@Val_PlanteOther municipalities outside Montreal have also postponed Halloween, including Magog, Trois-Rivières, Drummondville, Longueuil, Saint-Lambert, Sainte-Julie, Sorel-Tracy and Mont-Saint-Hilaire.
Laval officials have said people can choose whether to go out trick-or-treating on either Thursday or Friday night.
Wednesday evening, Pointe-Claire, Westmount and Trois-Rivières joined the list.
Ahead of Plante's announcement, one mother of two in Montreal's Ville Saint-Pierre neighbourhood organized a trick-or-treating event Wednesday.
When Megan Bradley heard bad weather was coming, she started talking with other parents at the bus stop Wednesday morning. With the help of a neighbour, she went door-to-door asking everybody with a decorated house to join.
She said that's plenty for her three-year-old son and five-year-old daughter.
"It's just encouraging community and encouraging neighbours to talk to each other — human interaction that is just rare these days. Halloween should be fun," Bradley said.
"People that have been home have been like 'Yeah, I'm down.' So I'm excited."
Has your city or town postponed trick-or-treating?
Here is a non-exhaustive list of the municipalities that have postponed trick-or-treating: