
Halloween is celebrated on October 31. It is a popular holiday in the United States that, nowadays, is celebrated in many parts of the world. It is also a very important date at Casvi International American School. Students, parents and teachers prepare for weeks this celebration decorating every corner of the center to enjoy this day to the maximum.
At Casvi International American School Halloween is synonymous with joy, color and fun. Thus, through different activities our students have understood the importance of this festivity, and at the same time they have understood the different connotations that this day has in different countries around the world.
Happy Halloween Day!
The origin of Halloween is Celtic and dates back more than 2,000 years. It is called “Samhain” and on this day the Celts celebrated the end of the summer harvest and welcomed the ghosts of their deceased relatives, who returned to the world of the living to be reunited with their families, received in their homes specially decorated for this great day. This tradition began to spread to different parts of the world, until the United States began to celebrate this holiday in a very particular way, what we know today as Halloween. The origin of this word comes from the variation of “All Hallows Even”, which means the eve of All Saints’ Day.
In China, Halloween is known as “Teng Chieh”. It is the time of the year when they can connect with their deceased loved ones. Chinese people make offerings in the street to celebrate and honor their relatives. They also light candles, as they believe this is the way to guide the spirits. In addition, they offer them food and some objects such as incense, water or salt.
In Mexico this day is celebrated from October 31 to November 2, since Halloween precedes the famous “Day of the Dead”. Mexicans create altars to honor the dead, like the one made by our Grade 7 students. They also decorate the streets and entertainment places, and people go out to the streets to have fun. As for the gastronomy during these days, sugar skulls, tamales, and pan de muerto (bread of the dead) are typical.
However, in Austria, traditionally, October 31 belongs to the “Week of All Souls” or “Sleenwoche”, which is celebrated from October 30 to November 8. During that time, believers go to church to honor their deceased. It is a tradition that when people go to sleep, they leave water, bread and a lighted lamp to welcome the spirits and celebrate this day together.
At Casvi International American School we live Halloween as a great celebration, since it is one of the most representative holidays of the American culture. Therefore, we transferred to our students the real theme of Halloween: color, fun and costumes of all kinds. Thus, we could find both vampires and dinosaurs. Others decided to be inspired by famous movies to make their costumes, others even made them with their own hands.
But the originality of the costumes is not the only important thing for us on Halloween. Decoration is a fundamental part of this great day. For weeks, students, parents and teachers worked hard to decorate every corner of our facilities. From spider webs to carved pumpkins… our students came up with endless possibilities for this great holiday.
Another great Halloween tradition is the pumpkin carving contest in which the students participate and in which three prizes are awarded: the most original pumpkin, the scariest and the funniest.
This contest ended with three winners: