How Halloween Is Celebrated Around The World
By: Dorothy Hamilton
10/26/23
In America lots of people go trick or treating. They go door to door to earn candy, but, what's it like if we celebrated in another country. Read on to see how other countries celebrate Halloween.
Starting off with Mexico, Mexico celebrates Día de los Muertos which a whopping 84% of Mexicans celebrate. Día de los Muertos translates to Day Of The Dead. Día de los Muertos lasts form October 31 to November 2. It is said that this is a time in which the border between the living and the dead disappears, allowing families to be reunited with their loved ones. Family´s will also offer food to their lost ones. They will offer foods like sugar skulls, horchata, tamales and pan de muertos.
An ofrenda, they are typically made as alters to commemorate loved ones.
Lots of people also come to pray and put flowers on the tombs.
The second country is China where they celebrate the Qingming festival. Unlike lots of countries China celebrates in April. In the Qingming festival families will dust, sweep and clean family members' tombs. This act is seen as a highly respectful thing to do.
The third country is the Philippines. In the Philippines they celebrate Pangangaluluwa (which is probably the hardest to pronounce). Pangangaluluwa is a honoring souls practice, on November there is All Saints Day. On All Saints Day young children would dress up as ghosts and knock on doors asking for prayers, similar to trick or treating. People will also go to grave sites with family members to share memories of lost ones.
For Pangangaluwa children typically prayed to souls for sweets.
Festivals typically look like this.
Last but certainly not least, Costa Rica. Costa Rica celebrates Dia de la Mascarada which translates to Masquerade day. Similar to America Dia de la Mascarada is also celebrated on October 31. Dia de la Mascarada consists of people wearing large, handmade masks and dancing around the streets to folk music. This is a tradition traced back 200 years. This tradition also brands pop culture as most of the masks consist of paper mache character and political faces.
That's all of the contrys in this article. Answer the Google form to submit which version of Halloween you would like to celebrate most. You can also watch the videos to learn more about these holiday traditions.
CONTRIBUTOR BIO
Dorothy Hamilton is a 7th grade journalist who loves to read and write, she has been in the journalism class two years in a row. She also enjoys art, music and singing