Halloween, a holiday celebrated globally

As a person who loves celebrating Halloween, I love looking at how different cultures and traditions other countries celebrate Halloween. 

We know the day as Halloween, but other cultures have their own title for the holiday.

Halloween is one holiday that many countries celebrate because of their heritage, culture and tradition.

Europe is claimed as  the birthplace of Halloween, originating with the name “All Hallows’ Eve”. In cities across Europe, Halloween is celebrated similarly to the United States. Streets are elaborately decorated, haunted houses are popular and people dress in costumes to continue the celebration that started more than 2000 years ago. 

A major portion of Halloween comes from Romania where the origination of Dracula and vampires came to life due to the history of atrocities and century-old castles.

Many African countries celebrate Halloween much like the United States as well. Some countries bring in their own ancient traditions while other countries ban celebrations for Halloween.

An uproar occurred in 2013 when the citizens of Rwanda weren’t allowed to host any sort of Halloween parties partly due to differences in religious beliefs. Many citizens were upset by this because they enjoyed celebrating the holiday. Trick-or-treating as well as frights and sights similar to the United States are slowly beginning to grow popular in African countries.

Participation in Halloween is huge in Asian cultures. Locations like Hong Kong host celebrations that tend to become bigger than most of the Western countries. 

Hong Kong is easily considered the Halloween capital of Asia, probably because of their previous link to the United Kingdom. Even though Hong Kong has a highly commercialized celebration of Halloween much like the United States, Hong Kong also has a traditional festival of “Yu Lan”, or festival of hungry ghosts. 

The festival occurs on the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar, which this year was August 15, next year it is Sept. 2. 

The festival focuses on an opportunity to give gifts to the dead, which wards off evil spirits while giving comfort to the deceased.

The majority of South America does not celebrate Halloween. Chile, Colombia and Brazil though have similar celebrations to North America when celebrating Halloween. 

Meanwhile, in Mexico, celebrating souls starts at midnight on Oct. 31 and continues through Nov. 2. 

The second of November is known as Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, where people and families remember and celebrate their lost loved ones.

It can be difficult to see with  places like South America, but it is obvious that many cultures enjoy celebrating this major fall holiday. 

Whether or not every country celebrates with trick-or-treating or pumpkin carving, it doesn’t change how most cultures have their own version of this spooky occasion. 

While all cultures don’t celebrate it the same way, Halloween is a holiday that’s cherished across the globe.