Anoka, Minn., claims global Halloween title through 106 years of organized partying

Anoka, Minnesota, celebrates its 106th annual Halloween event this year, a tradition that began as a municipal response to property damage in 1919. Local youths tipped an outhouse and released cattle across the town, prompting leaders to organize a supervised party the following year. The October 31, 1920, Minneapolis Journal reported that more than 1,000 children participated, and local residents noted that ash cans and back gates remained undisturbed for the first time in the community’s history.

The town capitalized on the success by declaring itself the Halloween Capital of the United States in 1925. By 1929, the St. Cloud Times reported the title had expanded to include the world. A 1927 contract between the town and residents formalized the arrangement. The town promised the best Halloween party ever held, and residents agreed to refrain from standard pranks. A 1928 newspaper confirmed the terms were honored, noting that no buggy adorned a church steeple and no cow stood on a barn roof.

The event grew in scale throughout the 1920s. Special trains from Minneapolis transported attendees by 1923. In 1928, the celebration received its first live radio broadcast on WCCO. The Minneapolis Star described the event as a model of cooperative Halloween, suggesting other cities should emulate Anoka’s focus on safety and goodwill.

Modern accounts often cite a 1937 trip by Minneapolis Journal paperboy Harold Blair to Washington, D.C., as the moment Congress ratified the title. Blair won an all-expenses-paid trip that year and wore a sweater with a Halloween Capital insignia. However, contemporaneous records do not show that he convinced Congress to adopt the title. His companion, Millard W. Rice, was not a congressman but served as the VFW’s national legislative representative in 1937.

Anoka suspended celebrations during World War II and resumed them after the war. By 1957, newspaper reports indicated the cost of the event was approaching the cost of the vandalism it was designed to prevent. Other cities, including Salem, Massachusetts, and Anaheim, California, attempted to claim the title. Anoka held the distinction due to its 1920 start date. Pete Turok of the Anoka Chamber of Commerce told the Star Tribune in 1999 that showing rivals the 1920 date ended the debate.

The non-profit organization Anoka Halloween Inc. currently manages the event. The month-long celebration includes costume and pumpkin contests, multiple parades, a bonfire, and scavenger hunts. The event continues to fund local children and schools, fulfilling the original civic purpose established in 1920.