Happy Halloween

It falls on 31st October every year and is associated with dressing up in spooky costumes, carving pumpkins, elaborately decorated houses and parties and the kids favourite activity of trick or treating, so this year pull out all the stops and have a happy Halloween! Although throughout the years the celebration of halloween has evolved into something a little more commercial than it used to be you can still have a good old time no matter how young or old you are. Originating in Europe Halloween has over the years become a popular celebration in America partly due to the mass immigration of Brits during the 19th century where Halloween celebrations have today become a big part of the yearly festival calendar. We may see carving a pumpkin as a Halloween must but to begin with the Scottish used to carve turnips into lanterns as a way of commemorating spirits held in purgatory. But when people went over to America they started to use the native pumpkin instead which was easier to carve and more easily available, something which has today evolved into a Halloween tradition all over the world.

History of Trick or Treating and Halloween Costumes

Trick Or Treat Goodies

Taking the kids trick or treating on Halloween is a must as they can enjoy dressing up in scary costumes and freaking out the neighbourhood with their friends and getting rewarded with a truck load of sweets and treats. Trick or treating is said to derive from the popular activity of souling which occurred during medieval times in Britain where poor people would go knocking door to door on Hallowmans (1st November) and offer prayers for the dead in return for food. Originating in Celtic lore and during the festival of Samhain October 31st is believed to be the day of the year where the worlds of the living and the dead are at their closest allowing the dead to pass between the worlds and once again socialise with humans. Loved ones who had died were traditionally honoured on this day and their spirits were sometimes even invited back to participate in the celebrations. During Samhain, which celebrates the end of the light half of the year and the beginning of the dark half, people were known to wear scary costumes in hope of warding off the evil spirits and this is where the tradition of wearing spooky costumes at Halloween originates from.

Halloween Traditions of Today

Halloween Props

Now days we tend to see Halloween as more of an excuse to dress up, have a party and a good time in general. Most of the traditional values and historical celebrations of Halloween have been lost but we like to think that we are carrying on a past time tradition so why not make the most of it as it only comes around once a year! The elaborate costumes of today have branched out from the traditionally scary ones with intentions of warding off evil to pretty much anything we want to be from comedic clowns to our favourite celebrity. Walk down the street during the end of October and you will see a host of elaborately decorated houses and intricately carved pumpkins all in preparation for that one night of the year. Halloween night is usually over run with kids trick or treating and going house to house in search of who can get the most sweets or candy. Parties have also become popular ways to celebrate with a host of different games from apple bobbing to entertainment for the kids an absolute must. Keeping alive the foundations of Halloween is a must and each year we look forward to celebrating with a bit of spooky fun and sharing our world with the spirit world once again.