Halloween in Europe
Halloween is a festival that is celebrated on the 31st of October and that involves for many in the US the act of dressing up as witches and devils and trick or treating. Halloween in Europe is much the same in a majority of countries, where this commercialisation has found much success. In other places however Halloween in Europe is also treated more seriously as a religious event.
In fact it is likely that Halloween spread from Europe originally, combining the ‘Roman Feralia’ which was designed to commemorate the dead, and with the Pagan Celtic Samhain which itself originated in the British Isles. In the latter, the Celts would leave food at their doors in order to lure in good spirits, and would wear masks in order to scare away the evil. When the Romans later invaded England, they would add extra traditions such as honouring the dead.
The festival as we know was in fact born in the Vatican when Pope Gregory IV declared the day ‘All Saints’ day in an attempt to replace the pagan festival. At the time this was on November 1st, and was intended to honour all of those saints who did not have their own day. The night before was then celebrated as ‘All Hallows Eve’ and during this time many Christians would travel from door to door begging for food which they would use to feed the hungry which was a slight variation on the pagan tradition of leaving food outside to attract positive spirits. This tradition did not completely distract from the pagan festival, and instead resulted in a new permutation that takes aspects of both: ‘trick or treating’. Here children dressed as creatures of the night will knock on the door of local residents and offer them the option of handing out sweets or falling foul to one of their tricks – which might involve fart gas or silly string. Interestingly there are some reports that Halloween in Europe also owes some of its origins to France, with Celts in Northern France being believed to have also celebrated the date.
It seems that Halloween in Europe travelled to the US via Irish immigrants who brought their traditions with them. In the US this tradition caught on and was highly commercialised with cards, decorations, cakes and the introduction of more traditions such as pumpkin carving. These commercialised aspects then travelled back to Halloween in Europe and in the West (England, France, Germany etc) many of the same practices take place with families decorating their homes, buying in sweets, and dressing up as ghouls and skeletons. Many individuals in England, France and Germany etc will also dress up in order to visit clubs and parties. Halloween in Europe is arguably slightly less of a ‘big deal’ than it is in the US with fewer people dressing up and less lavish decorations and costumes.
In other countries in Europe, particularly Poland, Halloween as we know it is even less well known and there is a lot less dressing up and partying involved. However here ‘All Saints Day’ is much more recognised with Poland being a very Catholic country. Polish Catholics thus will attend church and visit their relatives’ graves where a priest will throw holy water. They will also light candles, leave flowers and pray for their relatives. Here Halloween in Europe is a sad day and very different from that celebrated in the US and Western Europe, though some of these traditions are gradually starting to catch on.
This post was written by admin on November 2010
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Halloween in Europe is also fun, indeed. But, at least in my country, it doesn’t involve trick or treating. In my opinion, that’s a great loss. I’m sure that most kids would love to do that, even more than one time a year. So, from this point of view, Halloween in Europe seems kind of modest next to the US Halloween.
Even if it’s considered a religious event here, I’m not really the spiritual type. Halloween in Europe may seem poor, but you can have fun even without trick or treat-ing. That’s for children, if you come to think about it.
I love dressing-up and I’m pretty sure most people enjoy it too.
Halloween in Europe rocks just like it does in US!
Of course holidays in Europe can be fun too! And especially Halloween, everybody likes dressingup in monsters and all kinds of creatures at least once a year.
Even if it’s the Halloween in Europe and not in US, people still enjoy it because they’re very much alike.
As I know that, in some places, this can be a sad celebration, I’m pretty sure it will soon be similar to the Halloween in Europe or US known for its crazy and fun customs. I can’t wait for the next one!
I just love Halloween. I think we don’t have too many fun holidays in Europe and this one is surely my favourite. I like to dress funky and scare people on the street. Halloween is my favourite of all european holidays because I also love sweets. My mom is american and even if we celebrate this holiday in Europe, she always gives me candy, even without trick or treating.
Maybe holidays in Europe (such as Halloween) aren’t so much fun as the ones in US are. But Europe is the craddle of modern civilisation. So, it is natural that Halloween originated from here. After all, most of US inhabitants are from Europe. As for holidays in Europe, Halloween seems more imported than spawned here.
Celts were a very interesting culture. I knew Halloween is a celtic holiday but today, holidays in Europe are more of a marketing tool. Not many people have any idea about what Halloween really is. They see it as an american holiday, which is not the case. Holidays in Europe are more spiritual than the ones in US.
God I love trick or treating! Holidays in Europe are nothing compared to the american Halloween. And nowadays, we begin more and more to celebrate Halloween in Europe. This year I attended a pub-party where I dressed in a midget, it was so funny! I got like a ton of candy as a prize for my cute outfit. Holidays in Europe are not so fun, but our Halloween is almost like the american one.
It’s very scary picture but make scary than this OK
Wasp if you like the trick or treating so much, why don’t you see if you can set up trick or treating in your community?
I always just assumed that Halloween was an American holiday and other countries did not thing like trick or treating or decorating. But from how Erika talks it is becoming more and more popular. I could not imagine life without Halloween. It is too much fun.
Halloween is one of my favorites. It is a magical time where you can be anything you want for the day. I too did not know that Europeans did celebrate Halloween, but it does sound like not to our extent. I think that Halloween is really evolving though and in a few years maybe European countries will be doing as much as Americans.
I guess I thought Halloween was an American tradition. Good history lesson for me though huh? Well anyway I can see why maybe Europe is starting to get bigger on Halloween. You just do not know what you are missing if you do not celebrate it.
I spent my last Halloween in Europe. It was a bit weird, but I had fun. You can have as much fun here as you have in US. So in case you are thinking about going for Halloween in Europe, go for it. You will surely enjoy it.
I could not imagine Halloween being a sad day. But in the US many people celebrate All Saints day. They go to church. Halloween is just a holiday that is getting bigger and bigger every year in my book.
I could not imagine having Halloween be a sad day here. But I do like the idea of celebrating the dead person by throwing holy water over their graves. Too bad that it is associated with Halloween though. I feel that they are really missing out on how we celebrate this great holiday.
Halloween in Europe it’s a scary festival to me. I know that is very funny to costume in different personages or things, but some people overreacting. I’ve seen a lot of ugly and scary costumes.
I had some troubles on a Halloween in Europe when i was a child. Since then it becomes something unpleasant to me.
Halloween is one of my all time favorite holidays ever. I think it would be fun to spend a Halloween in Europe to get the full feel how they celebrate there. Maybe we could learn from any of their traditions. I think it would be neat to compare the two- US halloween and Europe Halloween.
I think that Halloween is what you make of it. So an American could have a less of a good time than a European just by what they do.
I would love to spend a Halloween in Europe one day. Who knows maybe someday I will get to.
I love Halloween. I could not imagine not having it. I think that if the Europeans would celebrate like we do they would see how much fun it is. Then they may wish to go all out as we do too.
I would love to be able to spend a Halloween in Europe. To show them how real halloweens are done. I think if they did all we did here in the US they would love it. I see they are slowly learning.
I don’t really like Halloween in Europe. I don’t like to dress up and become something else. Halloween in Europe is a stupid festival. That’s what I think. I just simply don’t like it.
I have never spent Halloween in Europe. I’m curious how it is. I would really love to spend at least one Halloween in Europe. I’ve only see it at TV. It must be great.
Mmm..I haven’t spent Halloween in Europe as in the original idea. Here, at Halloween we just dress up and party as usual. Is kind of fun though. I like this idea of Halloween in Europe. It is a great festival.
Hmm…I’m thinking…what costume should I wear for the next Halloween in Europe? I’m thinking at a banana. I like bananas. It would be a great costume. I can’t wait to spend the next Halloween in Europe.
i just think that halloween is fun, we get to experience a lot of things i just love it