How do they celebrate Halloween in the United States?

Many Americans celebrate Halloween on October 31. The celebration usually includes costume parties and a trick-or-treating game.

Is Halloween a public holiday?

Halloween is not celebrated on a national level. All businesses and institutions are on schedule.

How do people celebrate Halloween?

Halloween is a holiday celebrated with family, friends, and sometimes colleagues. In some cities, however, there may be major events. Parties are usually planned directly for October 31 or the weekend before or after that date. On Halloween, adults watch horror movies, throw costume parties, or create the atmosphere of a haunted house or cemetery.

Almost all of the children transform themselves into quirky characters and knock on the houses in the neighborhood, where they demand sweets or any other small gift. If they refuse, they threaten to cause trouble for the occupants.

This game is known as trick-or-treating and should take place in a friendly environment and, of course, without unpleasant consequences. Be careful if your children take part in such a game: it is important to accompany them and check the "treats" given to them to make sure they are safe to eat.

Many families carve lanterns out of pumpkins or other vegetables, giving them a frightening expression, and place them on the threshold of their house or in the garden. Such lanterns were traditionally intended to ward off evil spirits. When you're home for Halloween, be sure to stock up on small gifts or candy so that if someone knocks on your door, you can offer them. The little "spirits" in the neighborhood will be eternally happy!

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On Halloween, there is a donation drive for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The organization goes door-to-door and asks people to donate a few pennies instead of the usual candy. The money collected is then given to UNICEF and used to help needy children around the world.

Read also: 13 ways to celebrate Halloween around the world

Public Life

Officially, Halloween is not a holiday. Public offices and businesses operate normally, and public transportation runs on a regular schedule. Be cautious in the evening or at night: children are not usually used to being outside in the dark and can easily get lost or get into trouble.

Children dressed up in dark-colored costumes require special attention, as they easily blend in with their surroundings. On Halloween, as on any other holiday, children are most often excited and restless and may find themselves unexpectedly on the roadway.

Origins of the holiday

Halloween is a pagan holiday that existed in the territories of northern Europe, especially in what is now Great Britain. In terms of cultural traditions, Halloween is believed to be a day when the power of magical beings reaches its peak and spirits can "touch" the physical world. During the heyday of Christianity, this evolved into the celebration of All Saints' Day Eve. Halloween was brought to the United States by immigrants from Scotland and Ireland.

The commercialization of Halloween began in the 1900s, when greeting cards and paper cut-out decorations began to be produced. In the 1930s, masquerade costumes began to be commercialized, and in the 1950s the trick-or-treating game for children became fashionable. Over the years, production of "Halloween-inspired" products has increased many times over. Today, Halloween is a very profitable holiday for manufacturers of costumes, home decorations and candy.

Halloween Symbols

Halloween symbols include reanimated skeletons, ghosts, and spirits, all of which represent a kind of connection between the spiritual and physical worlds, as well as the living and the dead. Characters who are often reincarnated on Halloween night are witches and wizards, who are believed to be able to communicate with the netherworld.

Bats, spiders and black cats are also associated with the holiday, because many people draw a parallel between these animals and the night, the darkness, there is also a belief that these creatures often accompany witches and sorcerers.

Blood, tombstones, bones, skulls, fire and pumpkins are essential Halloween paraphernalia because they are directly related to death, the spirit world or protection from it. In the season of preparation for Halloween, no home decoration is without at least one of the above items or elements.