Pumpkin carving — Another tradition commonly associated with Halloween in America
Every year on October 31st, people all over the world pull out their coolest, creepiest, and most fun costumes and get ready for a night full of candy, scares, and fun. Whether you’re just watching a spooky movie, going trick-or-treating, or just going to a haunted house, Halloween is about having fun and being weird for one day!
Halloween started about two thousand years ago with an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain, in an area that we now know as Ireland, the United kingdom and northern France. People used to believe that on the day of Halloween ghosts came out to visit the living. Later on in the 8th and 9th centuries, the Catholic Church wanted to blend Christian practices with existing Celtic traditions in the lands they were evangelizing; the festival of Samhain and the Christian holiday All Hallows’ Eve began to mix, creating the Halloween we celebrate today.
While in America we mostly celebrate Halloween, different cultures celebrate the month of October in their own interesting ways! In Mexico, families celebrate Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), a colorful holiday where people honor and remember their loved ones who have passed away. A widely celebrated holiday in Japan, called Obon, also honors ancestors with festivals. Streets are adorned with lanterns, and flooded with people celebrating! Many in Ireland and Scotland, light bonfires and play games that go back to the original Celtic traditions. In South Africa, Halloween is also commonly celebrated. You might find costume parties, trick-or-treating events in neighborhoods, and Halloween-themed festivals at malls or schools. Everyone practices Halloween in different ways, making the holiday all the more fun and memorable.
No matter how you celebrate Halloween — whether you are honoring the past, showing off your best costumes, or just trying to survive a sugar rush, remember that Halloween is about having fun!
