Last year, starting the Mad King festival on the 18th of October felt WAY too late. Also, I imagine that the participation drops off dramatically when you let it run more than a week after Halloween has ended. People may grind it, but the enthusiasm is gone. I would ask that you start it a week or two earlier this year and have it end as close after Halloween that makes sense.
I am not someone that wants to see Christmas decorations in stores in July, but I feel like a general consensus would be to start Mad King as soon after October 1st as you can and Wintersday as soon after December 1st as you can. People are in the spirit and across multiple guilds over multiple years I have seen exasperated sighs that it has taken so long to start. I thought things were finally looking right in 2021, but then you had it go on until the 9th of November which is too long. Looking forward to seeing my old friend Steve again. ☠️🎃