Mischief Night

About Mischief Night

Mischief night is a tradition in northern England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, and the United States; a night when the custom is for preteens and teenagers to take a degree of license to play pranks and do mischief to their neighbours. The most common date for mischief night is October 30th, the day before Halloween, but March 31, the day before April Fool's Day, is becoming a secondary day for mischief.

Until the nineteenth century, mischief night was celebrated at Halloween (31 October and the eve of winter) or, May Eve (30 April and the eve of summer). Shrove Monday (i.e. the night before Shrove Tuesday and known as Nickanan Night in Cornwall and Dappy-Door Night in Devon) was also celebrated in this way in some places. In some localities, notably Yorkshire, it occurred on the night before Guy Fawkes Night (4 November) but there are no records of this date being celebrated before the late nineteenth century and it is assumed that festivities were transferred there from the much older folk festivals.

The custom survives but often merged with the American Trick or Treat.