Do you have Halloween in your country?

[Gandalf]

But I didn't answer the question. Yes, they do it here, but it is mainly just Kindy kids drawing pumpkins and making masks and things. Nobody knocks on doors or anything like that though. Like Christmas it is not really a big deal.

[Master]

Took my kids out yesterday for Halloween. Youngest one made a mask and had a costume on. They got a lot sweets and had some fun.

[goti71]

Over here there were local versions of it accross the country, all going back to pagan times probably. Then they were eventually absorbed by the Christian religion, and finally absorbed by the American version of Halloween in the last 40 years or so.

The local one in my area, Samain (revived in the 90's by intellectuals and the like), is often called "Sama-ween" in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way.
But it could be worse though, if the whole original thing was forgotten altogether.

There's no escaping globalisation, which isn't necessarily bad.

Another thing is that nowadays these things are mainly an excuse for kids to have some fun, which explains why the american version is "kickin' ass" so thoroughly.

I mean most adult people don't really celebrate anything because religious beliefs are fading away. So you're left with the fun bit, which is much easier to replace without the profound stuff that used to support it.

[TitoFan]

Over here there were local versions of it accross the country, all going back to pagan times probably. Then they were eventually absorbed by the Christian religion, and finally absorbed by the American version of Halloween in the last 40 years or so.

The local one in my area, Samain (revived in the 90's by intellectuals and the like), is often called "Sama-ween" in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way.
But it could be worse though, if the whole original thing was forgotten altogether.

There's no escaping globalisation, which isn't necessarily bad.

Another thing is that nowadays these things are mainly an excuse for kids to have some fun, which explains why the american version is "kickin' ass" so thoroughly.

I mean most adult people don't really celebrate anything because religious beliefs are fading away. So you're left with the fun bit, which is much easier to replace without the profound stuff that used to support it.

We have it over here too, probably due to the American influence over our culture. Trick-or-treating still happens, though not as much as before. Many religions do frown on it... but I like to think of it as a harmless event with kids getting to dress in their favorite costumes and going out to get candy. Grownups have their cool dress-up parties, and it's all in fun. It's all in what you make of it, I guess.

[X]