Halloween in Other Countries
photo taken from howstuffworks.com
There has been a massive surge in the celebration of Halloween. Below I will explain in detail how Halloween is celebrated in some countries across the world.
Australia and New Zealand – By America’s influence, there has been a tremendous increase in the celebration of this holiday. It has been reported that Halloween sales have been on exponential increase throughout the past five years. Trick-or-treating is in effect but is rare and limited only to the trick-or-treaters neighborhood. Halloween parties are more popular than trick-or-treating. On the night of Halloween, horror movies and TV episodes are aired on television.
Romania – Romania celebrates Halloween around “Dracula”, the famous vampire. There are many costume parties that revolve around the character. It is also claimed that the spirit of Dracula lives there today because Romania was a place where many witch-trials had taken place which are reenacted by actors on Halloween.
The Netherlands - Since the early 1990s, Halloween has become increasingly popular in the Netherlands. There has been an increase in Halloween sales in the past 20 or so years. Students and children dress up for Halloween but trick-or-treating is uncommon because Halloween does interfere with the Dutch holiday, St. Martin’s Day. However, on November 11, children walk around ringing doorbells hoping to receive a treat after singing a song dedicated to St. Martin which can be related to trick-or-treating in a way.
Sweden – There is quite a bit of a mix up in this country with Halloween. The Church of Sweden declares their All Saints Day on Halloween. Due to this, many Swedes are unaware that Halloween is a non-Christian holiday in English-speaking countries. Retail business organizations introduced Halloween to Sweden in the mid-1990s.
Other countries that have been increasing Halloween celebration would be Germany, Japan, and Spain. This was of course due to American cultural influence.
Works Cited/Further Reading
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween
I was born on 31st Oct and in my country we didn’t celebrate Halloween.
i don’t know what makes some of the countries in the world celebrate 31st Oct as a HALLOWEEN day.. i think it just bring a bad name to the day. i hate my day of birth it seems bring a bad luck for me. seriously i never celebrate my birthday more than 2 times. i just don’t know why every time the day comes, i get a lot of trouble.. out of nothing i suddenly involved with something that is not my concern. i asked for friends opinion but all i get is a irrelevant answers like ‘because u were born in a ghost day..’ blurred..