Do We Celebrate Halloween?

It’s an ‘international holiday‘ many New Zealanders are not terribly familiar with, but Halloween has become increasingly popular in New Zealand over the past decade – and it’s happening tomorrow night.

While originating in Ireland, we typically think of Halloween as a purely American tradition. With its roots in Celtic custom, Halloween relies on the atmosphere of darkness and withering foliage (as seen at this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere), so it’s not surprising that with October 31 in New Zealand approaching long, light, summer nights, the trend isn’t as popular as it is Stateside.

However, largely through media images (how many Halloween specials of The Simpsons have you seen?), this generation of Kiwi children are eager to jump on the ghoul and goblin-lead bandwagon and into the spirit of All Hallows’ Eve.

Do we celebrate halloween? What can New Zealanders expect from it this year? While private Halloween parties are the most common celebration of the event, trick-or-treating isn’t uncommon in New Zealand, especially if you live in a area populated by younger families. Make sure you have a bag of chocolates and lollies on hand in case you get a few spooky visitors – you don’t want to be the house that gets the ‘trick’ (although unlike in the movies, it probably won’t involve rotten eggs or toilet paper).

You can get in to the spirit low-key style by watching on of the many scary movies which will screen on NZ TV tomorrow night, or rent a DVD classic like Psycho, Halloween or Nightmare on Elm Street.

Image from Flickr.