Halloween is a very popular festival, especially in the USA.

The typical symbol of Halloween is the jack – o’ – lantern. It is a pumpkin with eyes and a mouth and a lighted candle inside.

The customs of buying a big pumpkin and making a lantern comes from Irish folklore. Irish people put lit, hollowad – out turnips in front of their windows and in the garden to frighten evil spirits away.

On the night of October 31^st , children dress up as witches and ghosts, then they go from door to door and play “trick or treat” people give them sweets or money; if they don’t give them anything children play a trick on them.

In ancient times this date was the ending of the old year and the beginning of the new one. This festivity has a Celtic origins, they believed that ghosts and witches returned on this night and they believed that evil spirits entered the body of a person or animal. This is the reason why people built bonfires to keep evil spirits away.