Halloween is coming up!

HISTORY

Halloween, Hallowe'en, or Holloween is celebrated on the night of October 31.Halloween dates back two thousand years to Britain and Ireland and a Celtic festival called Samhain which marked (segnava) the end of the “season of the sun” and the beginning of the “season of darkness and cold.”
The first of November was considered the end of the summer period, when herds (greggi) were returned from pasture (pascolo) and land tenurespossedimenti fondiari were renewed.
It was also a time when the souls (anime) of the dead were believed to return to visit their homes. People set bonfires (falò) on hilltops for relighting their hearth (caminetti) fires for the winter and to frighten away evil spirits (spirit malefici). They sometimes wore masks and other disguises (travestimenti) to avoid being recognized by the ghosts (fantasmi) they believed were present. That’s how witches (streghe), hobgoblins (folletti), fairies (fate) and demons came to be associated with the day.
The period was also thought to be favourable for divination on matters such as marriage, health, and death. When the Romans conquered the Celts in the 1st century AD (anno domini - d.c.), they added their own festivals of Feralia, commemorating the passing of the dead, and of Pomona, the goddess of the harvest (raccolto).
In the 7th century AD, Pope Boniface IV established All Saints’ Day, originally on May 13, and in the following century, it was moved to November 1.The evening before All Saints’ Day became a holy, or hallowed (sacra), eve (vigilia) and thus Halloween.By the end of the Middle Ages, the secular and the sacred days had merged (si erano fusi).
In North America, the celebration of Halloween was forbidden (proibita) among most of the early colonists, but in the 1800s some festivals celebrating the harvest developed and incorporated elements of Halloween. Irish immigrants brought versions of the tradition with them to America in the nineteenth century.Other western countries adopted (hanno adottato) the holiday in the late twentieth century.
Traditions
Traditional Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (dolcetto o scherzetto), ghost tours, bonfires, carving (scolpire) jack-o’-lanterns, and costume parties.
Trick-or-treating is the main Halloween event for children. They disguise themselves in costumes and ring the doorbells (campanelli) of their neighbours yelling (gridando)"trick or treat!" They receive candy (dolcetti caramelle) or similar items such as chocolate bars (tavolette di cioccolata), loose change (spiccioli), or even crayons and pencils.The jack-o’-lantern, a carved pumpkin (zucca scolpita), lit (illuminata) from within by a candle, is one of Halloween's most prominent symbols. It can be traced back to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, a greedyavido (tirchio), gambling, hard-drinking old farmer.
He tricked (ingannò) the devil into climbing a tree and trapped him by carving a crosss (colpendo una croce) into the tree trunk (tronco). In revenge, the devil placed a curse (maledizione) on Jack, condemning him to forever wander (vagare) the earth at night.Halloween costumes usually relate to death, magic, or mythical monsters.Traditional characters include ghosts, ghouls (demoni), witches, vampires, bats (pipistrelli), owls (gufi), crows (corvi), vultures (avvoltoi), black cats, spiders (ragni), goblins, zombies, mummies, skeletons and demons.Black and orange are the colours of Halloween. Black represents death, night and scary creatures; orange represents autumn, the harvest and fire.The most common game played at Hal loween par t ies is bobbing (pescare) for apples. Apples float (galleggiano) in a large basin (recipiente) of water and people have to use their teeth to get the apples out.