Ah, Halloween: one of the best holidays of the year for a lot of reasons!
First off, everyone loves candy; there’s no denying that. Secondly, who doesn’t like to dress up as their favorite superheroes, cartoon characters or their favorite everyday items like iPhones and Starbucks cups?! It’s awesome. It also means Thanksgiving and Christmas are closer than they’ve been all year.
Believe it or not, however, not every place around the world celebrates this spooky holiday the same way. As a matter of fact, there are more places in the world that celebrate in different ways than in the same ways that the United States does. Costumes and candy isn’t everything!
Check out the seven interesting ways people celebrate Halloween around the world.
Austria
In Austria, people leave bread, water and an illuminated lamp on right before going to bed on Halloween night. It was once believed that these particular items would welcome dead souls back to earth.
Korea
In Korea, a traditional-style Halloween isn’t celebrated. Instead, there’s a holiday known as “Chuseok,” which is a time for families to show appreciation for all that their deceased relatives and ancestors have provided for them.
Visits are made to ancestors’ tombstones where fruits and rice are placed.
Germany
On Halloween, people put away all of their knives in Germany. This act was put into play in order to be a much more welcoming environment to the returning spirits.
Belgium
You’ll have a good Halloween in Belgium as long as you don’t cross paths with a black cat at any point during the day or night. People also light candles in memory of deceased loved ones and relatives.
Mexico
In Mexico, as well as in Spain and Latin America, Dia De Los Muertos is a three-day celebration that begins Halloween night and ends on November 2.
The three-day holiday honors deceased relatives and loved ones by creating an altar-like setup for them. Around the altar, flowers, photos and candy are placed along with their favorite foods.
France
France didn’t acknowledge Halloween until around 1996. The event was only considered an American holiday up until then. These days, however, many people in France use this opportunity to dress up and go to costume parties for fun.
Ireland
Ah, Ireland! It’s the birthplace of Halloween — where all of the real spooky fun began. Very similar to the United States, children go trick-or-treating, dress up in costumes and hold various events throughout each community.
After all of the main festivities, there are a few games played, one of which is called Snap Apple, where you have to try to take a bite out of an apple hanging from a tree.
Top Photo Courtesy: Christopher Boullé
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