How to Celebrate Halloween Around the World?

Halloween is celebrated annually on the 31st of October. This event starts with the observance of Allhallowtide this is the time of the year that they dedicate to remembering the dead including saints, martyrs, and all the departed souls.

It is one of the world’s ancient holidays. It comes from ancient times and from the festivals and religious rituals of old people, still, Halloween is widely popular and celebrated enthusiastically around the globe.

In a lot of countries such as Ireland, Canada, and the United States traditions and rituals of celebrating include costume parties, pranks trick or treating, and other interesting games.

Halloween is celebrated in almost every corner of the world the versions could be different though with the specialized themes. In Latin American countries including Mexico Dia de Los Muertos the day of the dead, honors the deceased ones and ancestors.

How to Celebrate Halloween Alone?

Celebrate Halloween alone can be fun-filled if you are enthusiastic to treat yourself to good Halloween memories. Wearing a spooky costume of a witch, wizard, ghost or even the favorite character of your favorite movie will also do.

The leading step to having a good Halloween is going shopping., as you might need your costume, buy your favorite candies and delicates. You also need to make sure you have pumpkins to carve the jack o lantern or you can also buy the already carved jack o lanterns which are available in every shop when Halloween is around the corner.

• So get up and dress up in your favorite costume.
• Buy yourself jack o lanterns and your favorite candies.
• Do you enjoy scary and horror movies? If yes it is the best time of the year to watch a good scary movie that you can associate with Halloween night while talking about it.
• You can also go for the tricks rather than treating them. With every doorbell get ready to offer some sweets or collect some which kids may throw and run away later after pressing the doorbell.

How to Celebrate Halloween at Home?

It can also be fun to celebrate Halloween at home. So you don’t have to feel bad for not feeling like going out or socializing on Halloween Eve. You can start to enjoy Halloween at home by making gingerbreads.

Try building a haunted gingerbread house. These are not only for Christmas you can engage your whole family in this fun activity. Things you will need to make it include marshmallows and spider webs mainly.

Making a Halloween countdown calendar might also work to kill your boredom.

How about crafting a candy corn pinata? You can control this pinata and decide what goes inside. Your family is surely going to love the idea and its execution.

1. Watch a Movie

Staying at home on Halloween and watching a favorite movie or horror movie is never going to disappoint you. So try one now. You can create your home theatre under the stars too and that can definitely get thrilling with a horror movie. There are a lot of Halloween movies available that can make your Halloween even more fun, spooky, and memorable. 

A few of the movie recommendations are;

• Halloween
• Trick-treat 
• Hubie Halloween 
• Totally killer
• No one will save you 

2. Paint Your Face

If you want to make most of the Halloween sitting at home, painting your face can never go wrong. Try painting it in a spooky way that may frighten others and you can enjoy the thrill without even leaving the comfort of your place.

So there are plenty of ideas that you can execute and do yourself to make the Halloween night special and thrilling without going to any boring parties and getting extra social.

Which Countries Celebrate Halloween?

Halloween has become an event that is growing annually even bigger and stronger. People all across the globe love to enjoy the festivities and horror that this event brings with it. The Western world celebrates Halloween with more zeal and warmth. Halloween originated in none other than Ireland where a transition from summer to the coldness of winter cultivated the idea of celebrating Halloween. 

A detailed overview of celebrating Halloween in different countries has been given below for people to read and enjoy.

10 Ways to Celebrate Halloween

Halloween can be celebrated in hundreds of ways. There are different customs in different countries now and Halloween is celebrated with several other names. Also, Halloween has started getting bigger every year. Moreover, there are different innovations and novelty that it is celebrated by practicing different rituals.

Here are the 10 countries where Halloween is celebrated in different ways every year. This also helps to have a sneak peek at how Halloween is celebrated around the world and how different countries have different practices to enjoy the festivity of Halloween.

1. Halloween in Ireland – Samhain way

Halloween originated in Ireland so the day is celebrated with much zeal and zest as energetically as in the United States. The ancient Celtic festival of Samhain was initially celebrated as the original Halloween in Ireland. There is a Samhain parade that is held every year in Dublin, Ireland, which is a unique ritual.

• Costume Party

Children dress up in costumes and spend their evenings trick-and-treating in the neighborhoods. Also, there are bonfires in the rural areas as these used to be active on the days of Celts all around the country. People who have enough of the tricks and treats then enjoy parties with their neighbors and friends.

• Games of Halloween in Ireland

There are particular games that are played at Halloween parties and Snap Apple is one of these. An apple is attached to a string and this is tied to either a doorframe or a tree the players are then expected to bite the apple which is in the hanging position. Parents also arrange treasure hunts for the kids and their friends as the pastries and candies are a treasure.

A game of cards is also quite common among Irish people. Cards are kept face down on the table and there are coins and candies underneath. This way when children play this game and choose the card they get the price that is found below it.

• Traditional Food

Barmbrack is a traditional food that is eaten in Ireland on Halloween. It is more like a fruitcake that can either be baked at home or purchased from the stores. Interestingly, according to the belief of the Irish people, there is a muslin wrapped which gets backed with the cake inside and which can predict the future of the eaters. If they get a ring inside, this tells there could be an engagement on the cards. A straw could symbolize a prosperous year ahead.

It is also important to note that rituals for Halloween are more or like same in the USA and Ireland.

2. Celebrate Halloween in Austria

The second way of celebrating includes the way they celebrate it in Austria. There is a tradition of leaving the water, bread, and a lighted lamp on the table before people retire on Halloween night. The people in Austria believed placing these things was a good gesture to welcome the dead souls back to earth on the night which they all thought was magical.

3. Celebrate Halloween in Belgium

The people of Belgium celebrate their Halloween with this custom of lighting candles in memory of dead relatives. Also, they believe that if a black cat crosses their path or enters their homes, it is considered extremely unlucky in Belgium.

4. The Canadian way of Celebrating Halloween

Irish immigrants started celebrating the rituals of celebrating Halloween in Canada.
Scottish immigrants also started enjoying the festival of Halloween in the Canada during 1800s. There are carvings of Jack O’Lanterns and further festivities involve playing trick or treating, and decorating the homes with pumpkins and corn stalks. This concludes another interesting Canadian way to celebrate Halloween.

5. Halloween for English people

Though Irish and Scottish people preferred to have turnips, the English kids played with beetroots and made punkies out of the large beetroots. This is their unique of celebrating Halloween. They get creative with the beetroots and carve the designs of their choice. They then sing the punkie night song while carrying their punkies through the streets on the occasion of Halloween.

They also knock on the doors and ask for money. In some parts of England Halloween is celebrated as Guy Fawkes night and was moved to a few days later considering Halloween’s date. However many of them celebrate it on the eve of Halloween.

• Turnip Lanterns

Furthermore, in the rural areas of England, people place turnip lanterns on the gateposts to protect their homes from the spirits who roam on Halloween night according to their belief. Another custom that is common among English people is tossing objects such as stones, nuts, and vegetables into bonfires to frighten the spirits and make them move away.

• Symbolic Narratives

The way English people celebrate Halloween and Guy Fawkes night is quite spooky and belongs to a few superstitious beliefs. The activity of tossing the things has a further symbolic sacrifice and they use these as fortune-telling tools.

According to these people if a pebble that is thrown into the fire at night is not visible in the morning that tells that the person who tossed it might not survive another year. The tossing of nuts by young lovers who want to marry may get a quarrelsome marriage if the nuts explode in the fire.

6. The French way of Celebrating the Halloween

Halloween is considered an American holiday in France and unlike many other parts of the world, it is not celebrated by French people to honor the deceased and departed ancestors. French people are quite fond of parties, events, and costumes and this led them to celebrate Halloween. Earlier they only heard about Halloween and its celebration from foreign residents and tourists and also in their English classes. It was in 1982 that an American restaurant started celebrating it in France and this introduction of French customers to Halloween made the French aware of this celebration and event.

• Halloween Celebrations and Pumpkin

Pumpkins are not very popular or in demand in France traditionally however during Halloween days, it becomes one of the boons for the farmers and pumpkin growers to meet the need and demand. People can pick their own pumpkins from the patch at farms in Paris.

People put on the spooky costumes and get their pumpkins then. People celebrate Halloween by going to malls, restaurants, bars, and clubs. The most common costumes include mummies, ghosts, goblins vampires, and witches. Supermarkets also sell jack o lanterns and candy companies also have started following the Halloween format which has one big bag with a lot of candies inside.

7. How Does Germany celebrate Halloween?

German people have this tradition of putting away their knives on Halloween night. They do it to honor the returning spirits as they don’t want to harm them and be comforting for them.

8. Hong Kong’s Way of Celebrating Halloween

People in Hong Kong celebrate Halloween as “Yue Lan” (A festival of the hungry ghosts) and they also believe that on Halloween night spirits roam freely for twenty-four hours.

They also burn pictures of fruit and money believing that this gesture would reach the dead and bring them comfort.

Fires are also lighteners and there is a good arrangement of food and gifts in Hong Kong to calm down the aggressive and angry ghosts who could be back for some revenge.

9. Japanese Stance on Halloween

The people of Japan don’t celebrate Western-style Halloween. Japanese people know a little about Halloween and the way it is celebrated in the United States. Japanese people rather enjoy the Obon festival which is quite similar to the idea of Halloween. They dedicate this festival to the spirits of the ancestors.

• Special Food and Red Lanterns & Candles

They prepare special food and there are red lanterns hung all over the place. They also lit the candles and placed them inside the lanterns and then set afloat these lanterns in the rivers and seas. They lit the fire to guide the spirits of their ancestors telling them where their family could be found. As per the belief of the Japanese people, Obon is the occasion when the dead are expected to return to their birthplaces.

10. Halloween in Mexico Latin America and Spain

Spanish-speaking countries particularly in Mexico and Latin America Halloween is referred to as “El Dia de Los Muertos” – the days of the dead. This includes a 3-day celebration that starts on the evening of the 31st of October and ends on the 2nd of November. This is an ancient practice that has been transformed over the years. This practice was initially common in prehistoric Mexico to honor the children and dead. Mexican families admire the notion of remembering the dead and the continuity of life. Officially commemorated on November second it is also known as All Souls Day.

• Altar in Homes

People in Mexico America and Spain construct an altar in their homes and decorate them with candies, flowers, and photographs. They also place the fresh water and the deceased’s favorite food and drinks. A basin and towel are also arranged so that the spirit can wash before indulging in festivity.

• Get-togethers and Picnics

Relatives get together and go to picnic and also reminisce. They enjoy the festivity with the abundance of food drink and good company that helps build an atmosphere with good vibes and also sets the link for the interaction of the living with the dead people.

In the outskirts and villages, people dress up as skeletons and dance in the streets. Parades are also conducted.

Happy Halloween

Halloween is a popular event and is much appreciated all over the world. People like to spend Halloween with their friends and family wearing scary costumes and masks. There are many people who actually travel to other countries to enjoy the Halloween festival there. They love to wish their foreign friends a Happy Halloween.

Final Words

Halloween is celebrated in different countries of the world. Different nations have their own way of celebrating the day and a lot of them have made it customized according to their traditions. 10 of the different ways with the 10 different countries have been shared. Additionally, common Halloween activities include trick or treating, going to Halloween parties with spooky costumes on, carving jack-o-lanterns on the pumpkins lighting bonfires, apple bobbling, and a lot more.

Resources:

1. How To Say Happy Halloween In Different Languages?
2. How‌ ‌did‌ ‌Spanish‌ ‌Spread‌ ‌in‌ ‌Latin‌ ‌America‌
3. Top 15 Mexican Traditions
4. What is Cultural Appropriation?