Happy Halloween: the scary night!
Trick or treat* ?
Halloween is celebrated on 31 October. It’s an exciting event in the United States and in Great Britain. Every American calendar has Halloween marked on it. Halloween has ancient Celtic origins.
The Celtic priests, called druids, practised religious rituals. They also predicted the future. On this day the Celts made big fires and dressed in scary costumes. They wanted to frighten the evil spirits. They dressed as ghosts, skeletons and witches.
They believed that ghosts came out of their tombs on the night of 31 october.
In the 19th century Irish immigrants took their Halloween customs to the United States. They introduced the custom of « trick or treating ». American and British children and teenagers go « trick-or-treating » on Halloween evening. They go from house to house in their costumes and ring doorbells. When the door opens they shout : « Trick or treat* ? ». People usually give them sweets or money. If not, the children play a trick ! They write on windows with soap or spray shaving cream on cars and people !
*des bonbons ou un sort
American teenagers have a Halloween party in the evening. The party is usually in the school gymnasium and everyone wears a costume and mask. The best costume usually wins a price.
