Why do we celebrate Halloween? Inside the history of the spooky traditions

As rolls around, millions of Brits will be preparing their costumes, stocking up on sweets for trick or treaters, and RSVPing to the numerous events being held up and down the country.

But why do we celebrate Halloween on October 31?

Most commonly known as (a contraction of All Hallows’ Evening), the spooky festival is also referred to as Allhalloween, All Hallows’ Eve, or All Saints’ Eve.

It is the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows’ Day, or All Saints’ Day.

For years, there has been some disagreement over where the traditions stem from, with a large majority coming from America.

But Halloween has been celebrated in the UK since the 16th century, although .

Why do we celebrate Halloween?

Halloween was originally a Celtic festival called Samhain. The event belonged to those who occupied the region of Ireland and some parts of what is now Great Britain.

Falling around November 1, Samhain marked the end of summer and the beginning of winter.

During the festival, Celts would build bonfires to commemorate the change in season, tell each other stories, and even put on costumes with animal parts on that they had sacrificed.

Eventually, the tradition combined itself with that of the invading forces in the form of the Romans.

The Roman festivals of Pomona and Feralia celebrated the dead and the goddess of trees and fruit. The symbol for Pomona is an apple - and people see this as the reason "bobbing apples" became a tradition associated with Halloween.

Christianity then designated November 1 as All Saints' Day and the following day All Souls’ Day.

Due to this, October 31 became 'All Saints Eve' and then 'All Hallows Eve' before the holiday transformed into Halloween. Eventually, the tradition moved on to the US, when Irish and British migrants moved across the Atlantic.

As traditions developed, people began sharing stories of the dead, which soon turned into ghost stories. misbehaving.

Costumes then became the norm and eventually, the event became a worldwide event.

Why do we dress up for Halloween?

Originally, people dressed up on Halloween to scare off the dead.

The tradition was adopted by pagans in the community during Samhain to scare off evil spirits and what started out as animal skins and heads has turned into something a little less gruesome in the modern age.

It was hoped that wandering spirits seeing people dressed in costumes would assume they too were spirits - and let them go free.

Why do we carve pumpkins?

Pumpkins haven't always been the vegetable of choice when it comes to carving Jack O'Lanterns.

The tradition was originally done with turnips.

When Irish migrants took the idea of the Jack O'Lantern to America, they started using pumpkins because they were cheaper than turnips.

The legend of Stingy Jack inspired the carving. He trapped the Devil, only letting him go on the condition that Jack would never go to Hell.

However, when he died, Jack learned that Heaven was out of bounds due to his devilish dealings, so he was condemned to wander the earth as a ghost for all eternity.

Jack was gifted a lump of burning coal by the Devil and he carried it round in a carved-out turnip to light his way.

Why do we go trick or treating?

Trick or Treat began hundreds of years ago in medieval England, when people would go door to door offering a pray or a song in exchange for food.

This was known back then as Souling, taking place on All Saint's Day when Christians would traditionally pray for their loved ones.

Approaching the Victorian era, the food often given was a type of pastry called a soul cake., often something resembling a biscuit, or a cake.

Only in modern times has that tradition evolved into sweets and chocolate.

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