Geography of Halloween

Facts from the original

• Halloween is observed on October 31, the day before All Hallows or All Saint's Day.
• Celebrations occur primarily in regions of the Western world, with traditions varying significantly between geographical areas.
• Halloween is the eve of vigil before the Western Christian feast of All Hallows, observed November 1.
• This day begins the triduum of Hallowtide, which culminates with All Souls' Day.
• In the Middle Ages many Christians believed All Hallows' Eve was the night the veil between the material world and the afterlife was most transparent.
• Christians in some parts of the world visit graveyards on All Hallows' Eve to pray and place flowers and candles on graves of loved ones.
• Scottish emigration, mainly to Canada before 1870 and to the United States after, brought the Scottish version of the holiday to each country.
• The earliest known reference to ritual begging on Halloween in English-speaking North America is a 1911 Kingston, Ontario newspaper report.
• That report said smaller children went street 'guising' between 6 and 7 p.m., visiting shops and neighbours for nuts and candies in return for rhymes and songs.
• Canadians spend more on candy at Halloween than at any time apart from Christmas.
• Until 2006, when UNICEF moved to an online donation system, collecting small change was a major part of Canadian trick-or-treating.
• Quebec offers themed tours of parts of the old city and historic cemeteries.
• In 2014 the hamlet of Arviat, Nunavut moved Halloween festivities to the community hall, cancelling door-to-door trick-or-treating due to roaming polar bears.
• In British Columbia it is a tradition to set off fireworks at Halloween.
• In the United States, Halloween did not become a holiday until the 19th century.
• The transatlantic migration of nearly two million Irish following the Great Irish Famine (1845-1849) brought the holiday to the United States.
• Ruth Edna Kelley wrote the first book-length U.S. history of the holiday, The Book of Hallowe'en (1919), referencing souling.
• Kelley wrote that all U.S. Hallowe'en customs are borrowed or adapted from other countries and no old custom is out of fashion.
• In modern U.S. and Canadian Halloween, the main event for children is trick-or-treating door-to-door for candy.
• Teens and adults more often attend Halloween costume parties hosted by friends or themed events at nightclubs.
• At the turn of the 20th century Halloween had become a night of vandalism, property destruction and cruelty to animals and people.
• Around 1912 the Boy Scouts, Boys Clubs and other neighborhood organizations encouraged a safe celebration to end the destruction.
• U.S. commercialization began in the 20th century, perhaps with Halloween postcards most popular between 1905 and 1915.
• Dennison Manufacturing published its first Halloween catalog in 1909; Dennison and the Beistle Company pioneered commercially made die-cut paper decorations.
• German manufacturers specialized in Halloween figurines exported to the United States between the two World Wars.
• Halloween is now the United States' second most popular holiday after Christmas for decorating.
• The National Confectioners Association reported in 2005 that 80% of American adults planned to give out candy to trick-or-treaters.
• The NCA reported in 2005 that 93% of children planned to go trick-or-treating.
• The National Retail Federation lists the most popular adult costume themes in order: witch, pirate, vampire, cat, and clown.
• On many college campuses Halloween is a major celebration, with costume parties on the nearest Friday and Saturday.
• Other popular activities include watching horror movies and visiting haunted houses.
• Total spending on Halloween is estimated to be $8.4 billion.
• An Associated Press survey found 66% of American parents planned to take their children trick-or-treating; 46% identified as Protestant and 24% as Catholic.
• Theme parks stage annual Halloween events such as Halloween Horror Nights, Mickey's Halloween Party, Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, and Knott's Scary Farm.
• New York's Village Halloween Parade draws approximately 50,000 costumed marchers up Sixth Avenue each year.
• Salem, Massachusetts, site of the Salem witch trials, celebrates Halloween throughout October with tours, plays, concerts and other activities.
• Venues in New York's lower Hudson Valley host events tied to Washington Irving's Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
• Van Cortlandt Manor stages the 'Great Jack o' Lantern Blaze' featuring thousands of lighted carved pumpkins.
• Madison, Wisconsin hosts an annual Halloween celebration; in 2002 a riot broke out in the State Street area, requiring mounted police and tear gas.
• Chapel Hill, North Carolina's downtown Franklin Street party drew an estimated 80,000 in 2007 in a town of 54,000; in 2008 mayor Kevin Foy made downtown commuting harder on Halloween.
• In 2014 college students rioted at the Keene, New Hampshire Pumpkin Fest; the City Council then denied a permit and organizers moved the event to Laconia for 2015.
• Brazilian NGO Amigos do Saci created Saci Day as a Brazilian parallel opposing the American-influenced Halloween.
• The Saci is a mischievous evil character in Brazilian folklore.
• Saci Day is commemorated on October 31 and is an official holiday in the state of São Paulo, but few Brazilians celebrate it.
• In the Dominican Republic Halloween has gained popularity, largely due to Dominicans living in the United States bringing the custom back.
• In Santiago and Santo Domingo it is more common to see children trick-or-treating, but in smaller towns it is almost entirely absent, partly due to religious opposition.
• Tourist areas such as Sosua and Punta Cana have many venues with Halloween celebrations geared mainly to adults.
• Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos) is observed in Mexico and Mexican communities abroad.
• Día de Muertos is a syncretism of indigenous Aztec traditions with the Christian Hallowtide of the Spanish colonizers.
• Flower decorations, altars and candies are part of the Day of the Dead holiday season.
• The holiday is distinct from Halloween in origins and observances, but the two have become associated through cross-border connections and migration.
• Halloween and Día de Muertos have influenced each other, with costumes and face-painting becoming more common in the Mexican festival.
• The Chinese celebrate the Hungry Ghost Festival in mid-July, floating river lanterns to remember the dead.
• In Chinese, Halloween is often called 'All Saints' Festival' (Wànshèngjié), or less commonly 'All Saints' Eve' or 'Eve of All Saints' Day'.
• Chinese Christian churches hold religious celebrations, while non-religious celebrations are dominated by expatriate Americans or Canadians.
• Costume parties are popular for Chinese young adults, especially in large cities.
• Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park (Halloween Bash) host annual Halloween shows.
• Mainland China has been less influenced by Anglo traditions than Hong Kong and Halloween is generally considered 'foreign'.
• Halloween has become more popular in China, particularly among children at private or international schools with North American teachers.
• Traditional door-to-door trick-or-treating is not commonly practiced in Hong Kong because most residents live in high-rise apartment blocks.
• In buildings catering to expatriates, Halloween parties and limited trick-or-treating are arranged by management.
• Street-level trick-or-treating in Hong Kong occurs in ultra-exclusive gated communities such as The Beverly Hills and expatriate areas like Discovery Bay and the Red Hill Peninsula.
• Public events at Tsim Sha Tsui's Avenue of the Stars try to mimic the celebration.
• In Hong Kong's Lan Kwai Fong area, a Halloween celebration and parade has taken place for over 20 years.
• Many international schools in Hong Kong celebrate Halloween with costumes, including Hong Kong International School's 'Book-o-ween' where students dress as literary characters.
• Halloween arrived in Japan mainly as a result of American pop culture and as late as 2009 was celebrated mainly by expats.
• Wearing elaborate costumes by young adults at night became popular in Amerikamura in Osaka and Shibuya in Tokyo.
• In October 2012 about 1700 costumed people took part in a Tokyo Halloween Festival.
• Celebrations have become popular with young adults as costume parties and club events.
• Trick-or-treating for Japanese children has taken hold in some areas.
• By the mid-2010s, Yakuza were giving snacks and sweets to children.
• Authorities in Tokyo have recently tried to discourage street drinking on Halloween.
• In the Philippines, October 31 through November 2 is a time for remembering dead family members and friends.
• Many Filipinos travel back to their hometowns for family gatherings of festive remembrance.
• Trick-or-treating is gradually replacing the dying tradition of Pangangaluluwâ, a local analogue of English souling.
• In the provinces, people still observe Pangangaluluwâ by going in groups to houses and offering a song in exchange for money or food.
• Participants, usually children, sang carols about souls in Purgatory, with the abúloy (alms for the dead) used to pay for Masses.
• Householders sometimes gave children suman (rice cakes) along with the alms.
• Small items like clothing and plants would 'mysteriously' disappear, found next morning in the yard or street; spirits were believed to visit the living.
• Philippine Christmas traditions start as early as September, so Halloween and Christmas decorations often appear side by side.
• Starting in 2022, Saudi Arabia began celebrating Halloween publicly in Riyadh under its Vision 2030.
• Around mid-July Singapore Chinese celebrate 'Zhong Yuan Jie / Yu Lan Jie' (Hungry Ghosts Festival), when spirits of the dead are believed to visit families.
• In recent years Halloween celebrations in Singapore have become more popular with Western influence.
• In 2012 there were over 19 major Halloween celebration events around Singapore.
• SCAPE's Museum of Horrors held its fourth scare fest in 2014.
• Universal Studios Singapore hosts 'Halloween Horror Nights'.
• In South Korea, Halloween's popularity among young people comes from English academies, corporate marketing, and Japanese and American influence.
• It is not a public holiday but is celebrated around Seoul, especially Itaewon and Hongdae.
• Taiwanese people traditionally celebrate 'Zhong Yuan Pudu Festival', when spirits without surviving family roam the Earth during the seventh lunar month, known as Ghost Month.
• Some compare Ghost Month to Halloween but it has no relation and a different overall meaning.
• Halloween is becoming more widespread among young Taiwanese people, mainly due to American pop culture.
• Halloween events are held across Taipei, such as Xinyi Special District and Shilin District, home to international schools and expats.
• The Tianmu Halloween Festival started in 2009 and is organized by the Taipei City Office of Commerce.
• The 2-day annual Tianmu festivity attracted more than 240,000 visitors in 2019.
• During the Tianmu festival, stores place pumpkin lanterns outside to mark themselves as trick-or-treat destinations.
• Non-religious Halloween celebrations modelled on North American festivities are growing increasingly popular in Australia.
• Some Australians criticize the intrusion into their culture, disliking commercialization and American pop-culture influence.
• Some supporters place Halloween alongside other cultural traditions such as Saint Patrick's Day.
• Historian Mark Oxbrow, author of Halloween: Pagan Festival to Trick or Treat, says Halloween was first celebrated in Australia in Castlemaine, Victoria in 1858, 43 years before Federation.
• His research says Halloween traditions were brought by Scottish miners who settled in Victoria during the Gold Rush.
• Because of polarized opinions, growing numbers of Australians decorate letter boxes to indicate children are welcome to knock.
• In 2020 the first magazine dedicated solely to celebrating Halloween in Australia launched, called Hallozween.
• In 2021 sales of costumes, decorations and carving pumpkins in Australia soared to an all-time high.
• Halloween first gained traction in New Zealand in the 1990s.
• New Zealand is one of the first countries to celebrate Halloween each year due to its proximity to the International Date Line.
• Halloween is mainly celebrated in urban areas and not to the extent of North America.
• Trick-or-treating has become increasingly popular with minors in New Zealand despite not being a 'British or Kiwi event'.
• One criticism of Halloween in New Zealand is that it is overly commercialised, for example by The Warehouse.
• Over the years Halloween has become more popular in Europe and has partially ousted older customs like Rübengeistern, Martinisingen and others.
• Halloween was introduced to most of France in the 1990s.
• In Brittany, Halloween had been celebrated for centuries as Kalan Goañv (Night of Spirits).
• During Kalan Goañv it is believed spirits of the dead return, led by the Ankou, the collector of souls.
• Halloween was not generally observed in Germany prior to the 1990s but has increased in popularity.
• It is associated with U.S. culture and 'Trick or Treating' (Süßes sonst gibt's Saures), starting in Berlin's Dahlem neighborhood, part of the American zone during the Cold War.
• Halloween in Germany brings in 200 million euros a year.
• In Germany adults celebrate at themed costume parties and clubs while children go trick-or-treating.
• Complaints of vandalism tied to Halloween 'Tricks' are increasing, particularly from elderly Germans unfamiliar with it.
• In Greece Halloween is not celebrated widely; it is a working day with little public interest since the early 2000s.
• Halloween has somewhat increased in popularity in Greece as a secular celebration, though Carnival is far more popular.
• For very few, Halloween is considered the fourth most popular festival after Christmas, Easter and Carnival.
• Greek retail businesses, bars, nightclubs and some theme parks organize Halloween parties.
• The rise in popularity is attributed to Western consumerism.
• Since Halloween is a working day in Greece, it is celebrated on the last weekend before All Hallow's Eve if not on a weekend.
• Trick-or-treating is not widely popular in Greece because similar activities occur during Carnival.
• Greek Halloween's rise has increased its popularity in nearby Balkan countries and Cyprus, where Greek-Cypriot retailers increasingly sell merchandise.
• On Halloween night in Ireland, adults and children dress as monsters and creatures, light bonfires and enjoy fireworks displays.
• Derry in Northern Ireland hosts the largest organized Halloween celebration on the island, a street carnival and fireworks display.
• Games are often played, such as bobbing for apples, with apples, peanuts, other nuts and fruits, and small coins placed in a basin of water.
• Another common Irish game involves hands-free eating of an apple hung on a string from the ceiling.
• Games of divination are also played at Halloween.
• Colcannon is traditionally served on Halloween in Ireland.
• October 31 is the busiest day of the year for Irish Emergency Services.
• Bangers and fireworks are illegal in the Republic of Ireland but commonly smuggled from Northern Ireland where they are legal.
• Bonfires are frequently built around Halloween in Ireland.
• Trick-or-treating is popular among Irish children on October 31 and Halloween parties are commonplace.
• The Irish October Holiday occurs on the last Monday of October and may fall on Halloween.
• In Italy, All Saints' Day is a public holiday, and on November 2, Tutti i Morti or All Souls' Day, families remember the dead.
• In some Italian tradition, children awoke on All Saints or All Souls morning to find small gifts from deceased ancestors.
• In Sardinia, Concas de Mortu (Heads of the dead) are carved pumpkins that look like skulls with candles inside.
• Halloween is gaining popularity in Italy, involving costume parties for young adults.
• Carving pumpkins into skulls, lighting candles inside, and begging for small gifts such as sweets or nuts also belong to North Italy.
• In Veneto these carved pumpkins were called lumère (lanterns) or suche dei morti (dead's pumpkins).
• Since the fall of Communism in 1989, Halloween has become increasingly popular in Poland, especially among younger people.
• Western tourists and expats in the 1990s introduced costume party aspects, particularly in clubs and private house parties.
• Door-to-door trick-or-treating is not common in Poland.
• Pumpkin carving is becoming more evident in Poland, following the North American tradition.
• Poland is the biggest pumpkin producer in the European Union.
• Romanians observe the Feast of St. Andrew, patron saint of Romania, on November 30.
• On St. Andrew's Eve ghosts are said to be about, and divination customs elsewhere connected to Halloween are associated with this night.
• Around Halloween the Romanian tourist industry promotes trips to locations connected to Vlad Tepeș and the fictional Dracula of Bram Stoker.
• One of the most successful Halloween Parties in Transylvania takes place in Sighișoara, the citadel where Vlad the Impaler was born.
• That party includes magician shows, a ballet show and The Ritual Killing of a Living Dead.
• The biggest Halloween party in Transylvania takes place at Bran Castle, aka Dracula's Castle.
• Both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches in Romania discourage Halloween, advising focus on the 'Day of the Dead' on November 1.
• Opposition by religious and nationalist groups included calls to ban costumes and decorations in schools in 2015, which met criticism.
• Halloween parties are popular in Romanian bars and nightclubs.
• In Russia, most Christians are Orthodox, and in the Orthodox Church Halloween falls on the Saturday after Pentecost, 4 to 5 months before Western Halloween.
• Western Halloween celebration began in Russia in the 1990s around the fall of the Soviet regime, with costume and ghoulish parties in night clubs.
• Halloween is generally celebrated by younger generations and not widely in civic society, such as theaters or libraries.
• The Russian government, increasingly anti-Western in the early 2010s, has tried to eliminate Halloween from public celebration.
• In Spain celebrations involve eating castanyes (roasted chestnuts), panellets (almond balls covered in pine nuts), moniatos (roast sweet potato), Ossos de Sant cake and preserved fruit.
• Moscatell (Muscat) is drunk from porrons at Spanish Halloween celebrations.
• Street vendors sell hot toasted chestnuts wrapped in newspaper, and confectioners organize raffles of chestnuts and preserved fruit.
• The tradition of eating these foods comes from All Saints' night, when bell ringers rang bells for the dead into the early morning and helpers ate for sustenance.
• Other versions say the Castanyada originates at the end of the 18th century from old funeral meals with symbolic communion with departed souls.
• The festival is usually depicted with a castanyera: an old lady in peasant clothing and headscarf roasting chestnuts for street sale.
• In recent years the Castanyada has become a revetlla of All Saints celebrated in home and community, the first of four main school festivals.
• Galicia is known to have the second largest Halloween or Samain festivals in Europe, and Queimada is often served.
• On All Hallow's Eve a Requiem Mass is widely attended every year at Uppsala Cathedral, part of the Lutheran Church of Sweden.
• Throughout Allhallowtide, Swedish families visit churchyards and adorn graves with lit candles and pine-branch wreaths.
• Among Swedish children, dressing in costume and collecting candy gained popularity beginning around 2005.
• American Halloween traditions have met skepticism among older Swedes due to conflicting traditions and commercialism.
• In Sweden, All Saint's Day/All Hallow's Eve is observed on the Saturday between October 31 and November 6, whereas Halloween is October 31.
• In Switzerland, Halloween first became popular in 1999 but is now on the wane, most popular with young adults attending parties.
• Switzerland already has a 'festival overload' and prefers traditional elements such as the Fasnacht tradition of chasing away winter with noise and masks.
• In the past in England, families stayed up late on All Souls' Eve eating little soul cakes.
• At midnight there was solemn silence, with candles burning in every room to guide souls and a glass of wine on the table.
• The tradition of giving soul cakes from Great Britain and Ireland was known as souling, often seen as the origin of modern trick-or-treating in North America.
• Souling continued in parts of England as late as the 1930s, with children going door to door singing songs and praying for the dead in return for cakes or money.
• Trick-or-treating and other Halloween celebrations are extremely popular in England, with shops decorated with witches and pumpkins and young people attending costume parties.
• The name Halloween is first attested in the 16th century as a Scottish shortening of All-Hallow-Even.
• Dumfries poet John Mayne's 1780 poem noted pranks at Halloween.
• Robert Burns was influenced by Mayne and portrayed customs in his poem Halloween (1785).
• According to Burns, Halloween is a night when witches, devils and other mischief-making beings are abroad on baneful midnight errands.
• One of the earliest records of guising at Halloween in Scotland is from 1895, when masqueraders in disguise with lanterns made from scooped turnips visited homes for cakes, fruit and money.
• The Scottish practice of 'guising' meant going door to door in costumes for food or coins.
• These days Scottish children who knock on neighbours' doors must sing a song or tell stories for sweets or money.
• A traditional Scottish Halloween game is apple 'dooking' or dunking, retrieving an apple from a bucket of water using only the mouth.
• Another Scottish game involves eating a treacle- or jam-coated scone hanging on a string while blindfolded.
• Traditional Scottish customs include divination to predict the future, such as carving an apple in one strip and tossing the peel over one's shoulder to reveal the future spouse's initial.
• In Kilmarnock, Halloween is also celebrated on the last Friday of October and is known as 'Killieween'.
• Halloween is a popular traditional occasion on the Isle of Man, where it is known as Hop-tu-Naa.
• In Saint Helena, Halloween is actively celebrated much along the American model, featuring ghosts, devils and witches.
• Imitation pumpkins are used in Saint Helena instead of real ones because the pumpkin harvesting season is not near Halloween there.
• Trick-or-treating is widespread in Saint Helena and party venues provide adult entertainment.