How did Halloween start and where did it come from?

In the beginning, Halloween was a harvest festival.

The Celts, who lived in Ireland, the UK and France, marked the end of the summer and the beginning of winter with this harvest festival called Samhain.

At this festival, they wore costumes and enjoyed fortune telling.

Where did the name Halloween come from?

When the Celts eventually became Christian, they started to call the first day of November All Saints' Day.

All Saints' Day was also known as All Hallows, which was an old English word.

People began to call the night before the 1st of November All Hallows' Eve and this eventually became Halloween.

Why do people dress in costumes at Halloween?

People believed that ghosts walked the streets on Halloween night and they felt scared about meeting them.

They began to wear masks to fool the ghosts into believing that they were other spirits.

Soon, people started to wear costumes and fancy dress to go with the masks.

By the 1930s, costumes were based on characters in the media, like they are today.

Why do we make jack-o'-lanterns at Halloween?

There was an old Irish legend about a very mean man called Jack and when he died, he walked the earth with only a hollowed-out turnip with a light inside to guide him.

This is where we get the name Jack of the Lantern, which then changed to Jack-o'-lantern.

Because of this, for a long time turnips were used at Halloween.

But when European settlers arrived in America, they realised that pumpkins would be far easier to carve as they were soft and would give out a brighter orange coloured light.

Why do we go trick-or-treating at Halloween?

Many years ago, people were not just afraid of meeting ghosts on Halloween night.

They were also terrified that ghosts or spirits would come into their homes.

They began leaving bowls of food outside their doors to deter the ghosts from entering.

Over time, people began to get less fearful of the ghosts and started eating the nice treats themselves.

Some people say that this was the start of trick-or-treating.

So, what did you learn about the history of Halloween?

To learn about the traditions of Halloween in the UK, check out our Traditions video.

Thanks for watching.