How Halloween came to America

Updated on November 18, 2021 00:47 AM by Ava Sara

Every October 31st, America gets all hyped up for the preparation and celebration of Halloween, a festival where everyone, especially children, dresses up as goblins, witches, and ghosts. Many fun activities are organized at Halloween parties. Have you ever wondered how it came to be celebrated the way it is done today?

There is so much we do not know about this popular festival. Did you know that it is not an American festival? Want to know how it came to be celebrated in America? Then read this article and find out interesting tidbits about this secular festival.

A day dedicated to Christian Martyrs

Pope Boniface IV dedicated Rome’s Pantheon to the Christian Martyrs on May 13^th, 609 A.D. to Christian Martyrs.

The shift of the date

Almost a century later, this festival began to incorporate all saints and martyrs. Pope Gregory III made this happen along with shifting the date from May 13^th to November 1^st.

The Advent of Christianity

Christianity was spreading, and by the 9^th century, it had reached the Celtics. It began to blend in and incorporate the rituals of these Celtics.

All Souls' Day

The church declared November 2nd as All Souls' Day to commemorate the dead. This was seen as an attempt to keep Celtic traditions of honouring the dead alive.

Christianised festival of Samhain

Thus, the Celtic festival of Samhain became Christianised (All Souls' Day) with the advent of Christianity.

Devils and Angels

Pretty much like Samhain, All Souls’ Day had bonfires and costumes. But, now, these costumes were not just of ghosts and devils, but also of angels and saints.

The origin of the word "Halloween"

All Souls' Day is synonymous with All Saints Day and All-Hallows Day. The night before that day was called All-Hallows Eve, which eventually came to be known as Halloween.

Blending in beliefs!

The American version of Halloween began with the merge of ethnic European and American Indians’ beliefs.

The art of fortune telling

It all started in America with "play parties" where people celebrated the harvest by telling ghost stories, dancing, and singing. Like in the festival of Samhain, even in America, people told each other’s fortunes during Halloween.

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The Irish brought Halloween to America!

In America, it was still not that popular yet. But in the 19^th century, when Irish immigrants started flocking into America to escape from the Irish Potato Famine, they brought their traditions, including Halloween.

First ever Halloween!

The first official Halloween observed in the United States was in 1921, in Anoka, Minnesota.