INTERLACING CULTURES / ALL SAINTS DAY - HALLOWEEN

Halloween (or Hallowe'en) is a holiday celebrated on October 31. Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, ghost tours, bonfires, costume parties, visiting haunted attractions, carving jack-o'-lanterns, reading scary stories, and watching horror movies. Irish immigrants carried versions of the tradition to North America in the nineteenth century. Other western countries embraced the holiday in the late twentieth century. Halloween is celebrated in several countries of the Western world, most commonly in the United States, Canada, Ireland, Puerto Rico, Japan, the United Kingdom, and at times in parts of Australia and New Zealand.

In fact it is an American tradition so I don`t know if we should celebrate that! In the beginning of November (in Poland 1st November ) we finns have traditionally celebrated the All Saints day. On that day we remember all our beloved who have died and we bring candles to the cemetery. It is very christian day.

Halloween (31.10.) has become very popular among children because it includes pumpkins, ghosts, bats and children can go around the neighbourhood (dressed like a ghost or a witch) to ask:"Candy or trick?" Usually people give candies...In our school the student body has decided to organize the Halloweenday including ghoststories (teachers or pupils read them), masquerade (including whatever dress, not only ghosts) and disco (at the same time also some crafts and plays for those who do not want to dance).