It was a battle of traditions at the Columbus City Council Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday, as council members debated what was jokingly referred to as “the most controversial item on the evening’s agenda”: when the city would hold trick-or-treating.

On one side were the Halloween purists, who wanted trick-or-treating held on the evening of Oct. 31, regardless of the fact that that date falls on a Monday this year. On the other side was a contingent who preferred to hold trick-or-treating on the Sunday afternoon nearest the holiday, as has been done in Columbus for most of the last 30 years.

In the end, council members opted to forsake both traditions and hold trick-or-treating from 5 to 8 p.m. on the Saturday before Halloween.

Last year — for the first time in many years — the city held trick-or-treating on Halloween night, which fell on a Saturday. But with the holiday falling on a Monday this year, at least some council members preferred to default back to the traditional-for-Columbus Sunday afternoon trick-or-treat times, so busy parents and commuters wouldn’t have to rush home to get the kids out the door and then worry about getting them back in time to get homework done and get them to bed.