HALLOWEEN IN FRANCE

Some of the earliest Halloween traditions started in Europe, and indeed Halloween was born in nearby U.K., yet it was seen as primarily an American holiday with little or no fanfare with the French until recently. Now, Halloween is seeing a resurgence in popularity.

This renewed passion for all things pumpkin is quite recent. Just a few years ago, mention of Halloween was quite rare.

Now, chocolateries prepare delicate creations for the event. Children dress up, although you don't see nearly the vast diversity of costumes there that you see in America (ghosts and vampires are quite common).

Teens swarm McDonald's, apparently the mecca of all things Halloween (i.e. American). Disneyland Paris also has a Halloween celebration for visitors.

What has been taken seriously and has strong roots in French tradition is All Saint's Day, or November 1, or (to Americans) the Day We Feel Sick From All That Candy We Devoured On Halloween.

On All Saint's Day, which dates back at least to the seventh century, the French honor the dead. It is a wonderful day to visit cemeteries, where tombs are lavishly decorated with flowers and personal items.

If you plan to visit, your best bets for finding Halloween events are visits to big cities like Paris and Nice. Also keep in mind that November 1 is a major national holiday, and many spots will be closed in its honor.

HALLOWEEN IN ENGLAND

Traditions

In parts of northern England, there is a traditional festival called Mischief Night which falls on the November 4. During the celebration, children play a range of "tricks" (ranging from minor to more serious) on adults. One of the more serious "tricks" might include the unhinging of garden gates (which were often thrown into ponds, or moved far away). In recent years, such acts have occasionally escalated to extreme vandalism, sometimes involving street fires.

Halloween celebrations in England were popularised in the late twentieth century under the pressure of American cultural influence, including a stream of films and television programmes aimed at children and adolescents, and the discovery by retail experts of a marketing opportunity to fill the empty space before Christmas. Between 2001 and 2006, consumer spending in the UK for Halloween rose tenfold from £12 m to £120 m, according to Bryan Roberts from industry analysts Planet Retail, making Halloween the third most profitable holiday for supermarkets. This led to the introduction of practices such as pumpkin carvings and trick-or-treat. In England and Wales, trick-or-treating does still occur, although the practice is regarded by some as a nuisance or even a menacing form of begging.

Bobbing for apples is a well-established associated with Halloween. In the game, attempts are made with one's mouth only to catch an apple placed in a water-filled barrel. Once an apple is caught, it is sometimes peeled and tossed over the shoulder in the hope that the strips would fall into the shape of a letter, which would be the first initial of the participant's true love. According to another superstition, the longer the peel, the longer the peeler's life would be; some say that the first participant to get an apple would be the first to marry.

Other traditions include apple-bobbing and making toffee-apples and apple tarts. Apple tarts may be baked with a coin hidden inside, and nuts of all types are traditional Halloween fare. However, traditions are being lost under the relentless pressure of the American media, and some of today's children will arrive at a door and intone "trick-or-treat" in order to receive money and sweets. A custom that does not actually take place on Hallowe'en, but occurs close to this event and is related to it, is Punkie Night, which is observed in Somerset on the last Thursday of October, in which village children carry carved lanterns made from mangelwurzels.

There has been increasing concern about the potential for antisocial behaviour, particularly among older teenagers, on Halloween. Cases of houses being "egg-bombed", or having lit fireworks posted through the letterbox (especially when the occupants do not give money or gifts) have been reported, and the BBC reported that for Halloween 2006 police forces stepped up patrols to respond to such mischief

CHRISTMAS IN ENGLAND

In English speaking countries, children don’t get their presents on Christmas Eve (24 December). Santa comes at night when everyone is asleep. Santa’s reindeer can fly and take him from house to house. They land on the roofs of the houses and then Santa climbs down the chimney to leave the presents under the Christmas tree.

In the morning of Christmas Day (25 December), children usually get up very early to unwrap their presents. Then they have plenty of time to play with their new toys.

Christmas dinner is served in the early afternoon. Most people eat turkey and sprouts and a Christmas pudding.

26 December is called Boxing Day. It hasn’t always been a holiday. People used to go back to work on that day where their bosses gave them little Christmas presents in small boxes. That’s why the day is called Boxing Day.

Christmas around the world

Christmas in France

In France, children leave their shoes by the fireplace on the Christmas Eve so that Pere Noel can fill them with gifts and in the Christmas morning, they usually find sweets, fruits, nuts and small toys for them hung on the tree. Puppets and plays are conducted in cathedral squares to re-enact Nativity plays. Almost all French homes decorate their homes at Christmastime with a Nativity scene or crèche with little clay figures called 'santons' or 'little saints' that are still made from molds that have passed down since the 17th century. Figures of local dignitaries are often added to these Nativity scenes along with the Holy Family, shepherds and Magi. One can buy these figures in the annual Christmas fairs held at Marseille and Aix.