Festive marathon all year round: why Halloween, Christmas and Easter décor now sell almost simultaneously

A holiday that was once confined to the last week of October now confidently starts in August, and sometimes even earlier. But the calendar shift forward is not just an accident, but part of a global trend that affects other popular holidays, including Christmas and Easter.

According to the U.S. National Retail Federation, back in 2005, just over half of Americans planned to celebrate Halloween. In 2025, it's already nearly 75 percent. In two decades, average spending on the holiday has more than doubled: from $18 to $38 per person. Total Halloween spending in the U.S. this year is expected to reach a record $13 billion, accordingto The Conversation.

And it's not just the sale of costumes and decorations that is seeing growth. In September 2024, U.S. imports of candy totalled $750 million - three times more than in the same month in 2005.

How Halloween has changed:

• It used to be: homemade costumes, homemade treats, minimal decorations.

• Now: store-bought costumes even for pets, themed packaged candy, installations on the streets since late summer.

• In many countries, this holiday was not celebrated at all.

The reason is simple: Halloween has become a serious commercial season. And like any seasonal product, it must be sold before its date, otherwise it will remain illiquid. To minimise losses, retailers put themed merchandise on the shelves as early as possible.

This also allows them to:

• sell items at full price early in the season,

• sell out closer to 31 October,

• go straight into Christmas without pausing.

Christmas comes early, too

Following Halloween - and sometimes at the same time as Halloween - Christmas decorations and gifts appear in shop windows. More and more often you can see skeletons, Halloween candy and plastic Christmas trees in the shops at the same time.

The reasons are the same:

• Christmas is an even more lucrative season than Halloween.

• Buying power is spread out over time, and the earlier shops offer choice, the higher the chance of profit.

• The scale of sales requires planning logistics, display and marketing well in advance.

Easter is also a case in point. Increasingly, bunny and egg themed décor appears on the shelves as early as January.

Consumers are increasingly complaining of "holiday burnout" - fatigue from the constant imposition of themes. The feeling of a special time of the year is blurred, and preparation for the holiday turns into another item of expenditure.

However, demand has not yet decreased. On the contrary, economists predict that the seasons will continue to stretch.