Halloween in Armenia is alternative to filling social need for collective entertainment

15:42, 31 October 2014

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 31, ARMENPRESS: Halloween is a holiday celebrated on the night of October 31. This holiday is celebrated in the United States with family celebrations, parties and fireworks, witches, ghosts, vampires, skeletons and devils in the form of different people wearing masks and costumes out of regional roads and children with baskets in their hands, knocking on people's doors and demand candies. Armenpress tried to find out how Halloween is celebrated in Armenia and the attitude of the society towards it.

On October 30, while walking in the evening's streets, one could see the holiday mood. The "Jackie lamp" is placed in front of the shops and entertainment areas, symbolizing the evil forces of Halloween, which is the malevolent form of carved pumpkin face, with a candle burning inside. It is interesting that the first "Jackie lights" appeared in the UK and it was prepared from beet and not pumpkin. (THE FULL ARTICLE IS AVAILABLE IN ARMENIAN)

The word Halloween is a shortening of All Hallows' Evening also known as Hallowe'en or All Hallows' Eve. Traditional activities include trick-or-treating, bonfires, costume parties, visiting "haunted houses" and carving jack-o-lanterns. Irish and Scottish immigrants carried versions of the tradition to North America in the nineteenth century. Other western countries embraced the holiday in the late twentieth century including Ireland, the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom as well as of Australia and New Zealand.

The festival would frequently involve bonfires. It is believed that the fires attracted insects to the area which attracted bats to the area. These are additional attributes of the history of Halloween.

Masks and costumes were worn in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or appease them.

The history of Halloween has evolved. The activity is popular in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, and due to increased American cultural influence in recent years, imported through exposure to US television and other media, trick-or-treating has started to occur among children in many parts of Europe, and in the Saudi Aramco camps of Dhahran, Akaria compounds and Ras Tanura in Saudi Arabia. The most significant growth and resistance is in the United Kingdom, where the police have threatened to prosecute parents who allow their children to carry out the "trick" element. In continental Europe, where the commerce-driven importation of Halloween is seen with more skepticism, numerous destructive or illegal "tricks" and police warnings have further raised suspicion about this game and Halloween in general.

Part of the history of Halloween is Halloween costumes. The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays goes back to the Middle Ages, and includes Christmas wassailing.

Halloween in Armenia is alternative to filling social need for collective entertainment | ARMENPRESS Armenian News Agency

Halloween in Armenia is alternative to filling social need for collective entertainment

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