what is Halloween is the second most popular holiday in the United States second only to Christmas it is an annual holiday that takes place every year on October 31st Halloween is best known as a time of trick-or-treating dressing up in costume visiting haunted houses telling scary stories and so much more what is the history of Halloween Halloween is said to have originated from the ancient Celtic Festival called Sawan which marked the end of the harvest season they believe that the festival would make their gods happy so that they would protect their families and crops during
the long hard winter that was to come at the Harvest Festival they wore costumes and feasted together [Music] where did the name Halloween come from [Music] the name Halloween comes from a short informed of All Hallows Eve Christians traditionally called October 31st All Hallows Eve this is because October 31st is the day before All Saints Day or All Hallows day over the years All Hallows Eve became widely known as Halloween what are some Halloween traditions costumes a long time ago some people believed that ghosts walk the streets on Halloween night and they were scared to
meet them those people began to wear masks to fool the ghosts into believing that they were other spirits soon after people started to wear costumes to go with the masks today people have fun dressing up in costumes such as their favorite movie monster or TV character the more creative the better trick-or-treating many years ago people were not just afraid of meeting ghosts on Halloween night they were also terrified that ghoster Spirits would come into their homes foreign leaving bowls of food outside their doors to scare the ghost from entering over time people became less fearful
of the old ghost stories and started eating the treats themselves some people say that was how trick-or-treating began today children and teenagers dress up in costumes and knock on neighbors doors saying trick or treat adults pass out candy or other tasty treats which are usually collected in a bucket or bag foreign carved pumpkins are called jack-o-lanterns a long time ago people kept jack-o-lanterns outside their homes on Halloween night to scare away evil spirits today people carve all sorts of silly or spooky faces into pumpkins as decoration fun fact in the United States there is a
growing trend for a second Halloween celebration Halloween in July is an extra special day for Halloween fans to celebrate the festivities twice in one year [Music] for more resources and ideas on how to celebrate Halloween head to twinkl.com
