Today, the 31st of October, is the traditional festival of halloween. Historically, Halloween comes from a traditional celtic festival at the end of October when the harvest was celebrated. The early celts in Ireland lit fires and put on masks of demons to mimic the spirits and keep them away. The name "Halloween" is a shortening of the phrase "All-Hallows-Eve" which is now known as All Saints´ day.
Nowadays, it is mainly a commercial affair. Children dress up in costumes; popular ones being ghosts, vampires, witches, skeletons, mummies and zombies. They then go from door to door saying "trick or treat" and asking for sweets. If the kids are given sweets then they will leave peacefully, otherwise they will often play a trick on the household that didn´t give them any sweets.
Halloween is a lot of fun and can be enjoyed by people of all ages.
Mike
