The origins of this celebration are related, firstly, with the celebration of the Samhain. This festivity honors the end of the harvest season in the Celtic culture. It is also considered the start of the Celtic New Year’s. In fact, Samhain means “end of summer”.
There is also a connection to the Cristian festivity of All Saint’s Day which is celebrated on the 1st of November. This celebration honors and remembers all the Saints and also commemorates all of those deceased relatives.
During the Great Famine or Grant Hunger of Ireland, the Irish citizens take this celebration into North America, particularly to United States and Canada. This is the reason why nowadays this festivity is also known in these countries. Moreover, United States is well-known for producing films related with this topic.
The colors asociated with this festivity are orange, black and purple. These colors are bound to the symbols of this celebration such as jack-o’-lantern, which is the traditional pumpkin. Sections of the pumpkin are cut out to make holes. After carving, a light source, traditionally a candle. is placed inside the pumpkin and the top is put back into place.
Typical festive Halloween activities are trick-or-treat, costume parties, lighting bonfires, visiting haunted houses, telling scary stories or watching horror films.
Enjoy Halloween with a difference.
If you wish to experience a different Halloween, Europe has many scary places to enjoy Halloween. For instance, Dublin is a good example as this is the escenario that Bram Stoker, Dracula’s creator, used for his most famous novel.You can take a walk down the beautiful streets and visit the most traditional areas around this amazing city. These remote spots, inspired Bram Stoker on his novel. On the other hand , Ireland has a great variety of historical castles, fortresses and haunted mansions such as Malahide Castle, which is located near Dublín.
If you desire to enjoy Halloween with your family, Disney Land Paris is a great choice since it offers several Halloween shows until November 2nd. Also in Paris, you are able to visit the Paris Catacombs where many Parisians souls rest.
On the contrary, if you wish to visit Great Britain, here you have some interesting places to explore: The Yorkshire Scare Grounds Scream Park located in Wakefield. This is an amazing theme park for which the main theme and topic is “horror”. Moreover, you can enjoy the Fright Night in Sheffield. This is the biggest Halloween Carnival in England. As well, an interesting place to visit is the Alnwick Castle in Northumberland. In this castle you can meet and discover sinister characters all around the castle.
