Halloween

Halloween is celebrated on October 31^st in the United States.

Halloween is a favorite family celebration – a time for traditions such as dressing in costumes and carving  pumpkins. American children dress up in funny or scary costumes and go "trick or treating". The neighbors are expected to respond by giving them small treats. Adults may also dress in costume for Halloween parties.

The name "Halloween" comes from the Christian tradition. It is derived from "All Hallow's Eve." October 31^st is the eve of All Hallows day, better known as All Saints Day. This is a day when the church celebrates and remembers the lives of the saints.

Halloween is a secular  celebration  based on ancient Druid customs, dating back to 700 B.C. The Druids, a Celtic religious order  in ancient Britain, Ireland and France, believed that the souls of the dead returned to mingle with the living on "hallowed eve."

Halloween first was celebrated in the United States in the 1840s, when Irish Catholics, fleeing from the potato famine, brought Halloween customs with them to America.