This year, people in Florida will roll their clocks back on Sunday right after Halloween. According to The Palm Beach Post, daylight saving time officially ends at 2 AM on November 2, 2025 – just days after kids finish trick-or-treating.
The timing is not random. Halloween falls on a Friday this year, which gives families a bit more daylight to hit the streets before dark.
That extra light matters, especially for parents keeping an eye on costumed children crossing busy neighborhoods. It remains to be seen whether the evening ends in muggy heat or under a glowing sunset at 6 PM.
Some people prefer Halloween to start after the Sun has gone down. For them, the time change coming after the holiday means waiting longer for that eerie, candlelit vibe to kick in.
The sweet history behind the time shift
There has long been talk that candy makers had something to do with pushing daylight saving time past Halloween – and there’s truth to that rumor.
An NPR interview from 2007 with author Michael Downing confirmed what many suspected: “For 25 years, candy-makers have wanted to get trick-or-treat covered by Daylight Saving, figuring that if children have an extra hour of daylight, they’ll collect more candy.”
Lobbyists for other industries made their case too. A USA Today report from 2020 highlighted how the golf industry estimated $200 million in added sales from more daylight, while barbecue companies expected around $100 million. The candy lobby did not want to miss out on the profits either.
It was not until the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that the fall time change officially shifted to the first Sunday in November, right after Halloween.
What to know about Florida’s time change
Daylight saving time starts and ends at 2 AM Eastern Time (ET). For 2025, clocks spring forward on March 9 and fall back on November 2, giving everyone an extra hour of sleep and brighter mornings.
The US Department of Transportation oversees all time zones and the observance of daylight saving time. Arizona and Hawaii skip the whole thing, along with US territories like Puerto Rico and Guam.
Whether you love the extra daylight or dread the early sunsets, one thing’s certain: when people wake up the Sunday after Halloween, the clocks will have moved, and so will your internal rhythm.