Spooky Halloween 👻

Hello from Ireland! :)

This entry is exclusively about the Halloween festival in Ireland, which I had the fortunate opportunity to experience.

Unlike in Germany, Halloween is celebrated here in a big way and is already a topic in most families weeks before the actual day. I remember Billy asking his mother in my first week here when they would finally go shopping for Halloween...

I have done some research on the subject and would like to delve into the origins of this festival in a little more detail. Contrary to what many people may believe, Halloween originated in Ireland and not in America, where it was merely emigrated by Irish immigrants. It is still not known whether the festival has Christian or Celtic origins, but Halloween is the second important festival of the Celts, alongside Walpurgis Night on May 1st. In the last October night of the year, summer is bid farewell and the dark season begins. Originally, on October 31st, the last harvest of the year and the return of the cattle to the stables were symbolized. All villagers gathered around a large 'bone fire' (derived from English: bone fire, bonfire), blessed by a Druid, which was a bonfire where the bones of the slaughtered cattle were burned. At this time, no other fire was allowed to burn in the village, as the ritual consisted of each family kindling a new fire in their own house from this bone fire. Furthermore, people believed that on this night, the gate from the 'Otherworld' to the realm of the living was opened and the deceased wanted to visit their relatives on Earth. To welcome and greet them, sweets were provided and lights were lit. Others believed that evil spirits would come on this night to seek revenge or find a new body. In order to scare away these spirits, people wore scary, frightening costumes.

Since mid-October, numerous festivals and events embodying the theme of Halloween have been taking place throughout the country, and most cafes, restaurants, and pubs are accordingly decorated. In the week before Halloween, many pubs also had their servers dress up, which particularly appealed to me. Due to the general hype and the amount of revenue, special Halloween shops (only for a few weeks) were also opened.

But now a little more about how I experienced Halloween:

Two weekends before, my host mother brought down the box with the Halloween decorations from the attic, and we decorated the kitchen, living room, playroom, and front door together. Every time I was out walking with Timmy (the dog), I saw decorated front gardens with graves or spooky figures in other houses, or spider webs attached to hedges.

My last weekend was extended because of the bank holiday until Monday:

On Saturday, I visited some pubs with live music for the first time and explored the Temple Bar district - all of course decorated in a spooky way. I also experienced some events of the Bram Stoker Festival '4 days of Deadly Adventures' in Dublin.

On Sunday, I visited 'Stokerland', which reminded me a little bit in terms of style and size of the Christmas market in Cottbus on the Klosterkirchplatz: lots of food stalls, interactive storytelling and small theatre plays, as well as many opportunities for the children to play. Almost all children were dressed up (also some parents). And even though the weather on this day was actually very nice, it naturally had to rain at times - but then we all gathered under a big tent, where an actor told the story of the Zombie-Santa, or rather portrayed it interactively with the children. He really encouraged each and every child to listen and participate, giving them the illusion of a little time travel with a misused box (= the time machine), in which he carried the children across the stage.

My personal highlight of the Bram Stoker Festival was the Macnas Parade through the streets of Dublin on Monday. It was similar to a carnival parade, but with dancing fairies, witches, werewolves, and other creepy characters... It's difficult to describe, so if anyone wants to take a closer look, some videos have already been uploaded on YouTube under 'Macnas Parade Dublin 2018' :).

On October 31st, or yesterday, I prepared Billy's playroom because later in the evening there was going to be a party for him and his friends. Over the weekend, he and his parents bought so many sweets that they could be distributed among a total of 5 large bowls and there was still some left over afterwards. Afterwards, we carved the pumpkin together, making sure to prevent Timmy from eating the insides :D.

Later, Billy went trick-or-treating with his friends, and at the same time, I went out to meet two other au pairs and go to Dublin. Even on the train, most people were dressed up - but not only scary, but also quite funny... In this respect, the people in Ireland deviate slightly from the original tradition. In Dublin, truly 50% of people of all ages were dressed up and it was a great experience to go to a club, or later to a pub with live music!

One more thing occurs to me that I have not experienced in Germany... In Ireland, fireworks are also very common on Halloween - even in my host family.

I hope you are all doing well! 💗

Best regards, Hanna