Halloween is a holiday celebrated on the night of October 31st. Traditional Halloween activities include trick or treating, costume parties, carving jack-o-lanterns, bobbing for apples and telling spooky stories.

Why do we celebrate Halloween?
No one really knows the true origin of Halloween, but it is widely believed that it comes from the pagan Celtic festival known as Samhain, which marked the end of summer and the beginning of winter. The ancient Celts believed that on the 31st October the boundary between the living and the dead dissolved and spirits were most likely to be seen on earth.

Where does the name Halloween originate from?
When Christianity came to England, November 1st became All Saints Day; a day to honour all those saints who did not have a special day of their own. 'Hallow' is an old English word for 'saint', therefore the eve before All Hallows Day became known as All Hallows Eve or Hallowe'en.

Celebrating Halloween
The ancient Celts would celebrate Halloween by lighting bonfires and wearing masks to mimic the evil spirits and to frighten them away.

Nowadays, we still wear masks and costumes to frighten away evil spirits, but our masks are more representative of what we see in films or on T.V.

Modern symbols of Halloween include pumpkins, ghosts, vampires, witches, spiders, skeletons and demons.

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