This year, Halloween is particularly exciting because the holiday lands on a Friday. That means more of an excuse to eat candy all night and not worry about school the next morning. But while most people know Halloween as the one day a year we get to dress up and eat way too much sugar, the holiday actually has a pretty interesting history.
Where Did Halloween Come From?
Halloween started over 2,000 years ago with an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain. People who lived in what’s now Ireland and the UK believed that on October 31st, the boundary between the living and the dead disappeared. They had believed that ghosts could come back to Earth, so people lit bonfires and wore scary costumes to protect themselves.
Later, when Christianity spread throughout Europe, the church created All Saints’ Day on November 1st to honor saints and lost loved ones. The night before became known as All Hallows’ Eve, which eventually got shortened to Halloween.
Different Ways to Celebrate
One of the biggest traditions of Halloween is trick-or-treating. Kids and teens dress up in all kinds of costumes, going door-to-door to get candy. Some neighborhoods even go all out with decorations, spooky music, and haunted houses.
Another favorite tradition is carving pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns. This comes from an Irish legend about “Stingy Jack,” a guy who tricked the devil and was cursed to roam the Earth with a carved-out turnip. When the tradition came to America, people used pumpkins instead because they were bigger and easier to carve.
Other popular ways to celebrate include going to costume parties, visiting haunted attractions, watching scary movies, and checking out fall festivals with corn mazes and hayrides. Some exciting spots to visit in Turlock include the Ranch of Horror, performances such as “The Headless Horseman” and “Viva La Vida” at the Turlock community theatre, and Joan’s Farm & Pumpkin Patch.
Fun Halloween Facts
Halloween is the second largest commercial holiday in the U.S., right behind Christmas, with Americans spending more than $10 billion on the holiday every year. On that note, Americans buy over 600 million pounds of candy every Halloween, the top-selling candy being Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
In some parts of the world, Halloween is seen as a day to honor the dead, similar to Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), which starts on November 1st. Speaking of other parts of the world, the world’s largest pumpkin weighed 2,729 pounds, grown in Italy in 2021. That’s heavier than a small car. Additionally, the state of Illinois produces more pumpkins than any other state, producing around 500 million pounds of pumpkins a year.
Thoughts on Halloween
Whether you’re in it for the scares, sweets, or chance to show off a costume, this year’s Friday-night Halloween is the perfect time to enjoy one of the most exciting nights of the year.