Themed parties range from holiday celebrations to sports gatherings, and the available figures show how strongly people spend on decorations, costumes, food, gifts, and shared experiences. Halloween, the Super Bowl, and Easter provide three useful views of themed-party behavior in the United States, with measurement years and expectations varying by survey.
Table of contents
- Halloween spending and market size
- Halloween activities and party participation
- Decorating schedules and inspiration
- Costumes and character choices
- Super Bowl party statistics
- Easter celebration purchases
Halloween spending and market size
Halloween is the clearest large-scale example of a themed party season. The National Retail Federation expected total Halloween spending to reach $13.1 billion in 2025, following an expected $11.6 billion in 2024. Spending set a record at $12.2 billion in 2023. These are annual U.S. market estimates, not measured receipts reported after the season. (NRF Halloween 2025; NRF Halloween 2024; NRF Halloween 2023)
The longer trend also points upward. Total Halloween spending rose 32% from 2019 to 2024, according to the National Retail Federation’s Halloween consumer trends figures. Decoration spending increased from $2.6 billion in 2019 to $3.8 billion in 2024, a reported 42% increase. The decoration category therefore grew faster than the overall Halloween market during that comparison period. (NRF Halloween 2024 consumer trends)
Decoration spending was expected to reach $4.2 billion in 2025, compared with $3.8 billion in 2024. In the 2025 decoration research, 78% of Halloween shoppers expected to purchase decor. In 2023, 77% of Halloween celebrants planned to buy decorations. The two percentages describe different survey years, while both show that decorating is a mainstream part of the occasion. (NRF Halloween 2025 decor blog; NRF Halloween 2024; NRF Halloween 2023)
Participation was already broad before the latest spending estimates. The National Retail Federation reported that 69% of consumers participated in Halloween in 2022. In 2024, the planned activities included handing out candy, decorating, dressing up, carving pumpkins, and attending parties, making Halloween relevant both to hosts and to people taking part outside a formal party. (NRF Halloween 2022; NRF Halloween 2024 press release)
Halloween activities and party participation
The 2024 activity figures show how a themed celebration can include several distinct forms of participation:
- 67% planned to hand out candy.
- 52% planned to decorate their home or yard.
- 49% planned to dress up in costume.
- 43% planned to carve a pumpkin.
- 29% planned to throw or attend a Halloween party.
These percentages are planned activities among Halloween shoppers in the 2024 National Retail Federation data. They are not mutually exclusive: one person could decorate, wear a costume, hand out candy, and attend a party. (NRF Halloween 2024 press release)
The 2025 activity ranking was similar at the top, although the reported percentages changed with the survey year. Handing out candy was planned by 66% of participants, while dressing up in costume and decorating a home or yard were each planned by 51%. The figures suggest that themed-party planning sits within a wider celebration pattern rather than replacing other Halloween traditions. (NRF Halloween 2025 press release)
Party-specific participation is lower than the broadest Halloween activities, but 29% planning to throw or attend a party still represents a substantial share of shoppers. For hosts, the data supports treating candy, costumes, and decor as connected needs: each was planned by a larger share of 2024 shoppers than party attendance alone. (NRF Halloween 2024 press release)
Decorating schedules and inspiration
Halloween planning often begins before the calendar month of the holiday. In 2024, 47% of Halloween shoppers began shopping before October. The comparable figure was 32% in 2014, while 37% had started before October five years before the 2024 measurement. These figures describe shopping timing, not necessarily the date on which decorations were displayed. (NRF Halloween 2024 press release)
For 2025, 45% of Halloween shoppers said the first half of October was the most popular time to start decorating. Nearly half of early shoppers who began more than a month in advance put out decorations in September. The two findings distinguish the most popular general decorating window from the earlier behavior of a specific early-shopping group. (NRF Halloween 2025 decor blog)
Online discovery was the leading inspiration route in the 2025 Halloween data. Online searches were an inspiration source for 37% of shoppers, followed by retail stores or costume shops at 27% and friends and family at 21%. For a themed party, these figures point to three practical discovery channels: search-led idea gathering, in-person browsing, and recommendations from people who already know the celebration’s audience. (NRF Halloween 2025 press release)
Style is not fixed for every shopper. In 2025, 20% of Halloween shoppers said they did not have a defined Halloween style. That result leaves room for flexible themes, mixed visual references, and party concepts assembled from several sources rather than copied from one established look. (NRF seasonal shopping trends 2025)
Costumes and character choices
Costumes are a major part of themed-party spending. Total costume spending in 2024 was expected to reach $4.1 billion. The expected breakdown included $2.0 billion for adult costumes and $1.4 billion for children’s costumes. Pet costume spending was expected to reach $0.86 billion in 2024 according to the cited 2025 press-release figure. These estimates cover different audience groups and should not be added beyond the reported total because the supplied source labels and measurement framing differ. (NRF Halloween 2023 press release; NRF Halloween 2025 press release)
Planning can happen well before the event. In 2023, 75% of adults knew their Halloween costume before the holiday. Earlier costume-choice data from 2022 counted 5.3 million adults planning to dress like a witch, 1.7 million as a vampire, and 1.5 million as a ghost. These are counts of planned adult costume choices for 2022, not sales totals. (NRF Halloween 2023 press release; NRF Halloween 2022 press release)
The 2025 figures show both continuity and variation in popular ideas:
| Group and costume | Planned people in 2025 |
|---|---|
| Adults dressed as a witch | 5.6 million |
| Adults dressed as a vampire | 2.7 million |
| Adults dressed as a pirate | 1.6 million |
| Children dressed as Spider-Man | 2.3 million |
| Children dressed as a princess | 1.9 million |
| Children dressed as a witch | 1.7 million |
| Children dressed as a ghost | 1.6 million |
(NRF Halloween 2025 press release)
The witch remained the leading listed adult costume in both the 2022 and 2025 figures, at 5.3 million and 5.6 million planned adults respectively. The supplied figures also show that costume planning spans adults and children, which can help a host design a theme with room for different ages rather than requiring one identical outfit. (NRF Halloween 2022 press release; NRF Halloween 2025 press release)
Super Bowl party statistics
The Super Bowl illustrates a different kind of themed party: a shared viewing event built around food, beverages, team identity, and social attendance. A record 203.4 million U.S. adults planned to tune in for the 2025 Super Bowl. Within that audience, 113.7 million people planned to throw or attend a Super Bowl party, and 17.6 million planned to watch at a bar or restaurant. (NRF Super Bowl 2025)
Total Super Bowl spending in 2025 was expected to reach $18.6 billion, with average spending of $91.58 per person. The average is a survey estimate for the event and should not be treated as a typical price for hosting a private party. (NRF Super Bowl 2025)
The 2015 survey provides a separate view of what people planned to buy for the game. Food and beverages were planned by 79.3% of respondents, team apparel or accessories by 10.8%, and decorations by 7.4%. Average planned spending was $89.05 overall, with averages of $106.35 among men and $72.29 among women. Those 2015 measurements are historical survey figures and are not substitutes for the 2025 spending estimate. (NRF Super Bowl 2015 survey)
Compared with Halloween, the Super Bowl figures put the emphasis on a large viewing audience and food-centered hosting. The decoration percentage in the 2015 survey was smaller than the share planning food and beverages, while the 2025 audience and party counts show how many people participate in the event without requiring a holiday costume. (NRF Super Bowl 2015 survey; NRF Super Bowl 2025)
Easter celebration purchases
Easter offers another themed celebration pattern, with spending concentrated on food, candy, gifts, clothing, and decorations. Easter spending was expected to reach $23.6 billion in 2025. Among Easter shoppers, 92% planned to buy candy, 89% planned to buy food, 65% planned to buy gifts, 51% planned to buy decorations, and 49% planned to buy clothing. (NRF Easter 2025)
The expected category spending provides a more detailed view of the shopping mix. Easter shoppers expected to spend $7.4 billion on food, $3.8 billion on gifts, and $1.7 billion on decorations in 2025. These category estimates show that decorations are part of the occasion while food and gifts represent larger reported spending categories. (NRF Easter 2025)
The 51% decoration-shopping figure is especially useful for themed-party planning because it places decor alongside the event’s more universal purchases. A host planning an Easter gathering can read the data as evidence that decoration is a common component of the celebration, while remembering that the survey measures planned purchases and expected spending in the United States for 2025. (NRF Easter 2025)
Taken together, these themed party statistics show three different planning profiles: Halloween combines costumes and decor with candy-centered participation; the Super Bowl centers on viewing, food, and beverages; and Easter combines food, candy, gifts, clothing, and decor. The figures are estimates and survey results tied to their stated years, geographies, and source labels, so comparisons are most useful when those measurement details remain explicit.