Halloween 2024: Date, history, significance, celebrations, and all you need to know

The ancient festival of Halloween has evolved to become one of the favourite celebrations for kids around the world and not just western countries. Spook and fun come together in a night to remember where people partake in fun theme parties, wearing scary costumes, playing spooky games, and indulging in sweet treats. There is an interesting origin story behind why Halloween came to be associated with all things spooky, carving pumpkins, and trick and treating, and the traditions that shaped the modern-day version of Halloween.

Date of Halloween 2024
Halloween is celebrated every year on October 31, 2024. This year, it's falling on a Thursday.

History and significance of Halloween 2024

It all goes back to the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain, which was celebrated in the present-day Ireland to honour the dead, but at the same time maintaining boundary with them and the same was done by wearing scary costumes and lighting bonfires. It was believed that the souls of the dead returned to their homes on this day. As time went by, people added more elements to the celebrations, made it spookier, got more creative with the costumes, and what started as a simple tradition turned into a mega celebration.

While the traditions were inspired by Samhain, it was not before Pope Gregory III moved All Saints Day to November from May 13, that Halloween got its present date. As per Britannica, in the 7th century CE, Pope Boniface IV created All Saints Day, originally celebrated on May 13 and a century later, Pope Gregory III moved the holiday to November 1. From that day onwards, a day before the celebration of All Saints Day came to be known as All Hallows Eve, or Halloween.

Halloween traditions

The tradition of carving out demonic faces on pumpkin is associated with the legend of jack-o’-lantern. An Irish legend has it that a man called Stingy Jack tricked the Devil for monetary gain. Upon his death, he could neither enter heaven not hell, and was sentenced to roam the earth for eternity. Irish people started carving scary faces on turnips to ward off Jack's wandering soul. When Irish immigrants moved to USA, turnips were replaced with pumpkins. This soon merged with Halloween celebrations, amping up the spooky appeal of the festival.

Another tradition, in fact the most popular one is 'trick-or-treating' where children dress up in scary costumes ask for treats from neighbors. This was a 20th century custom popularised by Irish and Scottish communities where a person would dress up in costume and narrate stories, jokes, poem and other such tricks in exchange of some food items like a fruit or other treat. Cut to 1950, the tradition found its modern form in Halloween's most beloved tradition of trick-or-treating for candy.

How Halloween is celebrated

Thanks to its fun activities and traditions, Halloween is gaining recognition around the world, especially in the United States, Canada, and parts of Europe. Kids and teenagers dress up as spooky creatures or their favourite characters and go "trick-or-treating" in their neighbourhoods. The demand for candies are usually met by the endearing neighbourhood uncle and aunties. Haunted houses, costume parties, pumpkin carving, and spooky decorations are all part of the popular Halloween traditions. People watch scary movies and tell each other ghost to add to the festival's spooky charm.

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