MANILA, Philippines – Do you celebrate Halloween by donning costumes while trick-or-treating or attending parties decorated with jack-o-lanterns? Or do you make it a point to visit the dead and celebrate the season of Halloween with your loved ones – both the living and the dead – in the cemetery picnic-style?

Your Halloween traditions may vary depending on which side of the planet you were born. If you were born in Ireland, you may have first-hand accounts of Halloween traditions passed on from centuries since the holiday is said to have originated there.

This international holiday, which is celebrated on October 31, includes activities like trick-or-treating, ghost tours, bonfires, costume parties, visiting haunted attractions, carving jack-o’-lanterns, reading scary stories, and watching horror movies. But then again, traditions differ depending on which country you’re from.

While Filipinos do not celebrate Halloween the way most Westerners do, we do have our own traditions which most Westerners see as odd but rather fascinating. It is not to say, though, that the very popular Halloween trick-or-treat tradition isn’t done in the country.

Villages with expatriates held on to the tradition and influenced Filipino neighbors to celebrate with them during Halloween. In fact, as early as the sixties, Americans living in the Philippines have already introduced the tradition.

In western countries, costumes for the October 31 celebration are now already being planned. Plans for costume parties are already on the works, too, as well as designs for pumpkin carvings.

In the Philippines, on the other hand, trips to provinces are already being scheduled by most Filipinos as early as now – some may have even made up their plans earlier.

While most Filipinos do not participate in the October 31 celebration – wherein kids enjoy trick-or-treating while adults attend costume parties – November 1 and 2 are the highlights of the Halloween season as it corresponds to the Catholic celebration of ‘All Saint’s Day’ and ‘All Soul’s Day’, respectively.

People come to cemeteries and honor the dead while prayers are offered to souls and candles are lighted. This is the time when people flock to cemeteries and spend time on the graves of their loved ones.

The metro is at its slowest and traffic-free state during this time when people choose to come home to their families, honor the dead and enjoy the holiday. Aside from giving respect to the departed, Halloween is the best time for families to reunite and spend time together.

Source:
What is Halloween

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Happy Halloween!