Sunday, October 31, 2010

Happy Halloween Everybody.....

Last year I happened to be in Copenhagen in week 42, where Halloween is celebrated in the Tivoli Garden. Week 42 is the school kids' fall vacation, and was originally the potato holliday, where all family members helped with the harvest of potatoes. 15.000 pumpkins had been collected at the small Danish island, Samsø, and was decorating the old garden and this new tradition was introduced in 2006.

Halloween night in Denmark is actually not until the first Sunday in November, where lit candles are placed at the graves of loved ones/family - but this tradition has actually been forgotten by many.

The American version of Halloween is now present everywhere in Denmark.... kids however do not trick-or-treat, as the Danish kids get into costumes in February, when Shrovetide is celebrated... at Halloween in Tivoli kids may dress up like black cats, wizards, whitches, pumpkin jacks etc.
This year I am travelling again on Halloween and I am sticking to one beloved tradition, that is part of Halloween for me: I brought my DVD with The Nightmare Before Christmas, which I have to see while eating candy.

Happy Halloween

1 comment:

Rosemary said...

While I love my nation, I'm sorry to see that a your tradition of honoring our loved ones who have died is fading - that is a shame. I have an eeny bit of Danish blood in my heritage, but admit I do not know Danish traditions.