By Aliyah Difia Rahma, Daniela Forresu, Melina Gjoka, and Nguvitjita Mberirua
Happy Halloween! Are you planning to go trick-or-treating, wear a spooky costume, or visit a haunted house with your friends?
The standard celebration of dressing up like fictional characters, trick-or-treating and eating chocolate is what most people have in mind when they think of celebrating this holiday – but did you know that other cultures celebrate it differently?
In the UK, Halloween is seen as a time to dress up and get-together with your friends and having fun. Jessica Kein, 18, a student from London Metropolitan University said: “We don’t really go all out, it’s mainly just the party and dress up,” Halloween is mainly seen as a fun celebration for her, she said.
Abderamane Wodeey, a 36-year-old student studying International Business Management at London Met, said that Halloween in his home country of Chad is very similar to that of the UK.
“So they wear masks you know, fancy dress and makeup,” he said, adding that children knock on people’s doors to ask for change in Chad.
Decorating the house on Halloween is one of ways to celebrate. Credit: Daniela Forresu
Mark O’Connor, a restaurant manager at Barley Mow in Mayfair, implied that Halloween in Bermuda is a very celebrated day. “Everyone knows the best neighborhoods to go to – to get the best candy,” he said.
“People decorate their houses more because they know there’s going to be more people coming.”
Haseeb Sohail, 26, also studies International Business Management at London Met. He is from Pakistan, where he says Halloween isn’t celebrated at all.
“It’s because we’re Muslim so we don’t allow it,” he said.
Another Pakistani student, Muhammad Awais Ashraf, 35, echoed Sohail’s statement. “Even the concept of it about Halloween [not allowed], so we didn’t celebrate Halloween,” said the International Business Management student.
Zara Islam is from Bangladesh and majors in Pharmacology. She said that religious restriction is a main reason why she doesn’t celebrate Halloween. Islam said being a Muslim means that Halloween not part of the Islamic religious practice.
“I think it’s mainly focused in the Western culture, not in East Asia or Asia itself.” She later added that she sees Halloween as a fun event.
London Met celebrates Diwali through food. Credit: Aliyah Difia Rahma
Unique halloween traditions
Other countries observe Halloween a bit differently.
Justine Gonzales is from the Philippines and currently working as a chef at Barley Mow. He said that in the Philippines they have a long weekend to celebrate Halloween.
“Most families they go to the graveyard to visit their loved ones, the ones who died,” he said. This is because like Mexico, the Philippines also has its Day of the Dead called Undas, and they typically celebrate it from the end of October to early November.
One of the main themes of Halloween decoration is the concept of death and ghosts. Credit: Daniela Foresu
Looking at the diverse celebration of Halloween in different countries, how does your country or culture celebrate Halloween?
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