HALLOWEEN

4 IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT HALLOWEEN 1. Halloween is one of the oldest festivals in Great Britain. 2. Halloween is celebrated on October 31st. 3. The full name of the festival is “All Hallows Eve”. 4. About 99% of pumpkins sold in Britain are used as lamps at Halloween.

THE HISTORY Everything started a very long time ago, in the 5th century, in the place where today is Great Britain and Northern France. At that time the Celts lived there and they celebrated New Year with a festival called “Samhain” on November 1st. It was a holiday of the end of the “Sun Season” and the start of the “Dark and Cold Season”. People made lamps of pumpkins and candles and said: “These lamps help the sun to live in winter”.

THE HISTORY In the year 835 the Roman Catholic Church made November 1st a church holiday of all saints who do not have a special day in the year. This holiday was called “All Saints Day” or “All Hallows Day”. People started to celebrate another holiday on October 31st: “All Hallows Eve” (the night before “All Hallows Day”). Now we call this festival “Halloween”.

BELIEFS People strongly believed that Halloween is the night when communication between the worlds of the living and the dead can be. Dead people visit our world as witches, goblins, ghosts, black cats and skeletons.

TRADITIONS apples and potatoes in making Jack-o-lanterns – pumpkins with lighted candles inside which were used to frighten away evil spirits. According to an Irish legend a man called Jack can’t enter neither heaven nor hell. So instead, he has to walk in the darkness with his lantern until Judgment Day. Many years ago people used apples and potatoes in making lanterns. Now all over the world pumpkins are used.

TRADITIONS Costumes – on Halloween people wore masks and costumes when they left homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for other evil spirits. The most popular costumes nowadays are ghosts, witches and skeletons. The colours of Halloween are orange ( the colour of harvest) and black ( the colour of death and darkness).

TRADITIONS Trick-or-Treat – many years ago to keep ghosts and witches away from their houses on Halloween, people placed plates of food outside their homes to appease all evil spirits. And now British children put on their costumes and from door to door in the evening saying: “Trick or Treat”. And people give them chocolate and sweets.