Halloween is a cherished holiday in the USA, with 93 percent of kids and 68 percent of adults celebrating the day, and an estimated $6.9 billion being spent on costumes, candy and decorations-and that’s just for last year! With Oct. 31 just around the corner, everyone is scrambling to put together last minute costumes and plans, and we’re not the only ones. Halloween is celebrated around the world, and each country’s adaptation has its own unique twist.
To trace back the origins of the spooky holiday, look no further than the ancient Samhain festival of Celtic Ireland. The festival, which occurred on Oct. 31 (considered the last day of the harvest season) served many purposes: it was a ceremonial fire festival, a celebration of the end of the pastoral cycle, and a day for souls, both good and evil, to roam the land. Participants would light bonfires and wear ugly masks to confuse evil spirits, sometimes leaving food offerings to appease the haunted souls. Halloween’s roots are embedded in this country, so it’s no surprise that Ireland is also home to the world’s largest Halloween party, with a whopping 33,000 people celebrating the holiday in Ireland’s fourth largest city, Derry.
When it comes to celebrating Halloween, the USA faces some serious competition from Mexico (and several other Latin American countries). Día de Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a three-day celebration for honoring the departed and it is believed that spirits return for the holiday to reunite with their families. Día de Los Muertos boasts elaborate rituals and festivals, as well as unique customs, like creating altars with offerings for the deceased, and making and buying sugar skulls to decorate gravestones.
Unlike the extravaganzas in the U.S. and other western nations, Halloween in the Philippines is traditionally more subdued, with a greater emphasis on remembering the deceased. The holiday spans over several days, and up to a week leading up to the celebration is spent cleaning up cemeteries. Oct. 31 is a day of preparation for the first of Novemeber– All Saint’s Day– where people bring flowers, candles and food to the graves of loved ones. The Philippines did have a a version of trick-or-treating, called Pangangaluluwa, where kids would dress as ghosts and go door to door asking for money or candy, but it is now considered a dying custom.
In Japan, Halloween didn’t become a widely celebrated holiday until the early 2000s, when Tokyo Disneyland and Universal Studios Japan first began hosting Halloween-themed events. The country quickly adopted the commercialization of the holiday, with retailers taking advantage of the endless possibilities for Halloween costumes and decorations. While the tradition of dressing up in costume has exploded in popularity, Japan has yet to incorporate the concept of trick-or-treating, and it doesn’t seem likely to start any time soon.
There are countless variations to the holiday, from using it as a time to honor the dead to making it a day of witch costumes and candy collection. So whether you’re spending Halloween watching movies, trick or treating or at a party, just remember, there’s more than one way to celebrate the day. Have fun and be safe!

Jasmine Weis is a senior at Benicia High School

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