Halloween celebration traditions are held every October 31st. Today the ones who enjoy Halloween the most are the children. Halloween is a popular time to get up in fancy dress and go from house to house trick or treating. Some people take the time to set up displays in their homes and front yards with tombs and ghosts in a Halloween theme.
Halloween is a traditional Celtic festival, and has survived through the ages most strongly in the Celtic communities in Ireland, Scotland and Wales. From there, with emigration, Halloween has spread around the world, most notably to America. In recent years, the spread of popular American culture has introduced a further expansion of interest in Halloween to fresh places, such as Asia and Western Europe.
The first Celtic customs were pagan festivals linked to the seasonal changes with the onset of winter. The ancients saw it as a time when the living could contact the dead, and magic things could happen. The early Christian church, as with many pagan festivals, absorbed these customs into the Christian calendar. All Saints Day, also known as All Hallows Day, was assigned to November 1st. All Hallows Evening, the night of October 31st, became known as Hallow E'en, later just Halloween, and the time for the ancient celebrations.
Halloween was celebrated in each village, and there was usually a large fire to keep warm and entertaining games. The apple harvest was going on, and games such as trying to eat an apple on a string or floating in a tub of water with no hands, were favorites. Children would go from house to house to gather fruit, nuts and other foodstuffs for the festivities, which was the origin of the "treating" visits of today. Notably in Scotland, the children would sing or put on a performance in return for the treats they were handed. Nowadays the treats handed out are usually candies and sweets, and perhaps some coins.
Halloween "tricks" were originally secret and often witty pranks played on some adults by children, with the blame being placed on the mischievous spirits that were said to be abroad on Halloween. This practice was especially popular in Ireland. At some stage long in the past, tricks and treating merged into a choice: give a treat or become the victim of a trick. This unfortunate development led to such practices as throwing eggs at houses and soaping windows, and worse. Today these excesses are rare.
Halloween parties are often held amidst decorations to a haunted house theme. Children's eyes light up when Halloween menu items include the likes of tomato soup changed to vampire soup, spaghetti served up as cemetery worms, and witches fingers made of breadsticks tipped with sliced almonds. Halloween pumpkins are carved into jack-o-lanterns. Pumpkin dishes such as pumpkin pie are popular at Halloween.
Over the last few years, the magical themes of the popular Harry Potter books have added fresh fun to costumes and decorations for children's Halloween parties.
Halloween dress up parties have also become regular events for adults as well lately. They are a good enough excuse to dress up and have fun. The trend today is for any outfit to be acceptable, not only the traditional witches, monsters, vampires and ghosts of Halloween. Costume design inspirations are now inspired from many places, such as popular movies and television series. Some costumes are just clever, such as the seasonal fall theme of a "leaf blower", made with a leaf hanging from the brim of a cap where it can be blown by the wearer.
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