Halloween

31 October 2021

As you all know, LES celebrated Halloween on the 29th October. There was a Cupcake & Sweets Sale to raise funds for charity and there were extra events for Year 7 and 8 during the first 2 periods, including a dancefloor party with loud and lively music, contests and games! We have also seen absolutely terrifying Halloween costumes, from both the students and the teachers. I really enjoyed Halloween this year and hopefully you did as well! But aside from the fun, Halloween also has a whole history… Where do you think Halloween originally comes from? Around 800-900 BC, the Celts in Ireland and Britain celebrated New Year's Eve around October 31. They called the festival 'Samhain' and celebrated the end of the harvest season and the summer. The party was not just fun for the Celtic people. The Celts thought that on this last day of the year the dead rose from the graves to haunt the living and to find their way to the realm of the dead. The Celts tried to chase these spirits away. At night they dressed up to fool the ghosts. Masks were meant to fool the spirits into thinking that the Celts had risen from the dead just like them, and that they would therefore leave them alone. They set fire to turnips to keep the ghosts at bay, and put food near the graves to keep the dead in the graveyard. The Irish immigrants, the descendants of the ancient Celts, brought these traditions to the US in the 19th century. Turnips were not found in the US, but pumpkins were widely available, so they were used as an alternative and that's how the tradition arose in which pumpkins are cut out on October 31 and lights are placed inside them. Now, putting hollowed-out pumpkins at front doors is a traditional Halloween custom.

Louise Krijthe