Halloween Ideas for 31 October 2011

H A L L O W E E N

Halloween is celebrated on the 31st October, which includes activities such as trick-or-treating, attending fancy dress costume parties, carving pumpkins, apple bobbing, telling scary stories and watching horror films.

The word Halloween is derived from the word "All Hallows Eve" which occurred on the 31 October, the end of summer in Northwestern Europe. "All Saints Day", or "All Hallows Day", was the next day, November 1st. Therefore, Halloween is the eve of "All Saints Day"

"Apparently" the origins of Halloween can be traced back to Scotland and Ireland, around the time of Christ. The Celts celebrated the end of Summer, which was a time when the animals would be put in barns for the Winter and a time of the Harvest Crops. The change of season was celebrated with a festival called Samhain, pronounced, 'Sow-ane', and means end of Summer.

There has been much superstition surrounding this time, including the belief in fairies and the spirits of the dead wonder around looking for bodies to inhibit. Since the living did not want to be possessed by spirits, they dressed up in costumes and paraded the streets to frighten and confuse the spirits back to where they come from.

In today's era, the dressing up in costumes has been much associated with trick or treating in outfits such as: the classic vampire costume, wicked witch costume and ghosty costume, just to name a few.
You will find that there tends to be a wide age group, from children to adults who like dressing up and getting into the spirit of this Halloween occasion.

Happy Halloween!