Halloween is a day that many spend dressing up, trick or treating with friends, and eating loads of candy. These beloved traditions are looked forward to by all ages, but have you ever wondered why we do them? Today we will talk about some of the most popular Halloween trends, and why we do them.

First up is something that anyone of any age can do, which is dressing up! Originally, Halloween was a festival called Samhain and it was celebrated 2,000 years ago by the Celts. During Samhain, ghosts were said to have come back to earth to haunt the people. In order to ward off these spirits, people would dress up in costumes to confuse the evil spirits. This tradition evolved into the witch, ghost, monster and all the costumes we see today.

Our second tradition is carving pumpkins. Originally, this activity was done with turnips in Ireland. The Irish people believed in the story of Stingy Jack, a man who trapped the devil and would only let him go if he promised that Jack would not go to Hell after he died. When Jack died, Heaven didn’t want him either so the devil gave him a turnip with a hot coal inside to help guide him as he wandered Earth forever. The Irish people started carving faces into turnips to help ward off evil spirits.

The last and most famous tradition is trick-or-treating. The treat part comes from the Celtic people while the trick part comes from the Scotish and Irish people. In Celtic areas, people would dress up in costumes outside and perform things in exchange for food. Some of the costumes were ghosts and demons, which we still see today. In Scotland and Ireland, children would dress up and go to houses to receive food from them. In exchange for the treat, the children would sing or recite a poem. Eventually these practices turned into dressing up, going to different houses and saying “trick-or-treat” before receiving candy in return.