Across the continents, people have a different take on the
traditions of Halloween
Despite it’s Celtic origins, modern Halloween celebrations are a very American tradition. Most of the world has long been confused by our fascination with dressing up and begging for candy door-to-door. But our love for delightfully ghoulish festivities has been catching on, and more countries are jumping on the Halloween bandwagon.
Read on for more about Halloween celebrations around the world!
JAPAN
“Society as a whole may not know about Halloween, but many students at language schools know about it and will celebrate it. When we learn languages, we learn about culture at the same time. So, we learn about Halloween when we learn English. We also see it on television or in the movies. Many younger people enjoy Halloween and people are happy to trick or treat. But they don’t think of it as a religious event, they just think of it as something fun. It’s like Christmas for many people in Japan. It is not a sacred time for them, but it is something fun and many people will celebrate it.”
– Emiko Yamamoto Belt, Hollister resident and co-owner of Hollister Japanese Temple Garden, Inc.
MEXICO
“Halloween isn’t celebrated in Mexico, but they do celebrate something called The Day of the Dead on Nov. 2. People go to a special mass that day that honors the deceased. The entire family makes a point to go to the cemetery, taking flowers with them. They do a Rosary for their loved one. In some cases, people make an even bigger effort. For example, if the deceased loved mariachi music, maybe the family will bring a mariachi band to the cemetery to play.
“After visiting the cemetery, the family will go home. The day before, the family will have put an alter up in their home in honor of their deceased family member. They’ll decorate it with the person’s picture, they’ll light candles around it, and they’ll put beautiful sunflowers – those are the main flower – around the alter with some other flowers. They make designs out of special colored tissue paper, and they make skeleton heads out of sugar with molds. All of this decorates the alter, along with maybe the persons favorite piece of clothing or their favorite foods.
“The family will sit down to a feast and celebrate their deceased family member’s life. They will tell stories or jokes and remember things about the person. It’s not a sad occasion, and even though it may be celebrated a little differently in different regions, it’s all about honoring the dead.”
– Rose Hernandez, Gilroy resident
ENGLAND
“Halloween is not celebrated the same way in England as it is here. As a child, I did go to a few Halloween parties, but it’s not a major commercial holiday there like it is here. Guy Fawkes Day (Nov. 5) is a much bigger event in England. That’s when they’ll have fireworks and bonfires, and big parties. I think part of the reason Halloween wasn’t a big celebration when I was a child also had to do with the Church of England. It’s a religion with strong influence on the culture, and because Halloween is a pagan holiday, it was frowned upon.”
– Sue Lindenberg, owner of Tango Fantastico in Morgan Hill
EGYPT
“When I was living there (in Egypt), Oct. 31 wasn’t considered anything at all. I’d never heard anything about Halloween until I came here in 1978. Now, I understand that some people do celebrate it (in Egypt) with the candy and all, but I’m not sure to what extent.”
– Hamdy Abbass, Hollister resident and owner of Prudential Financial in Gilroy
CANADA
According to the Web site www.vancouverhalloween.com, Canadians celebrate Halloween in the same fashion Americans do.
“In Canada, Halloween, which was once a frightening and superstitious time of year, is celebrated much as it is in the United States, with trick-or-treating, costume parties and fun for all ages.”
GERMANY
“Once considered a strange overseas tradition, Halloween has fast become a new party trend (in Germany). In recent years, the heathen custom of Halloween has become increasingly popular in Germany. It’s approached in much the same way as Carnival, another popular celebration of pre-Christian myths, when the demons of winter are driven away and the longer days of spring ushered in.”
Source: www.dw-world.de, a German news Web site.
RUSSIA
In 2003, the BBC reported Russian schools banned Halloween celebrations after the holiday gained popularity in the 1990s. The Russian Orthodox Church felt Halloween advocated Satanism and celebrations conflicted with the church’s beliefs.
SOUTH AFRICA
“It’s Halloween. And we love Michael Myers, and all things sick and nasty, and all evil great and small. It’s occasionally useful to be in a country that clearly follows this same Halloween goth nihilistic idea at every possible turn.
“For those of you Halloween freaks who – like me – are about to go carve up a pumpkin to make a cool, scary-looking Jack o’ Lantern, try this for a modern take. Instead of a candle inside, try a Jack o’ LED. CNN also reports that albino pumpkins are the rage this year.
“Until the next time, if the Great Pumpkin doesn’t get me.”
– Portions of a blog from Mail & Guardian, an African online newspaper (www.mg.co.za).
