Halloween is an annual festival that takes place on the 31st October. It’s origins date back an impressive 2000 years to a Celtic festival called Samhain. The Celtic people were a group that mostly inhabited what we know today to be Ireland. This festival took place on the 1st November, which was the Celtic new year. During the festival the people would honour the spirits of their ancestors, whilst at the same performing rituals, that included the wearing of costumes, to ward off harmful spirits.
Throughout
time Christianity began to adopt some of the elements of this festival. The
result of their inclusion resulted in the creation of two days. The first of
the days was on the 1st November, known as All Saints Day, and the
second day was on the 2nd November, known as All Souls Day.
A
few hundred years ago a great number of Irish immigrants moved to settle in
America. In doing so they brought with them the traditions of their old
festivals. Halloween is one such festival that made a big impact on the people
of America. To this day it is arguably one of the most popular festivals
celebrated there.
Halloween
can be compared well with the fire (Bugum) festival that takes place in Ghana. This
festival is held because a great King lost his son and a search party had to
light torches to find the Prince. The celebrations include the chief calling on
their ancestors to bless the new year, and teenagers and children painting
their faces with white powder. Along with this some people like to fire their
guns in celebration and also use machetes to try to cut themselves to highlight
the power of black magic.
This blog is going to give you all the
ingredients needed to have the scariest of Halloween parties in Ghana.
What
you will need
- · One costume
- · One watermelon
- · An abundance of sweets
- · Halloween decorations
- · Place to hold a party
Method
1.
Step one is pumpkin carvingTraditionally carving pumpkins dates to an old folk story about a man, called Jack, who was doomed by the devil to roam the earth with only a carved-out turnip and small light to guide his way. In the modern day we use pumpkins instead of turnips. But in Ghana you can’t so as a substitute why not use a watermelon.
To carve your watermelon you must hollow out the insides first. Then you decide on the scary face that you are going to carve on the front. Finally, you place a small light on the inside of the watermelon so that you can see the face.
2. The next step is to decide on your costume.
The costume can be something scary such as zombie or a vampire, but it doesn’t have to be. Some examples of what people wear on Halloween are shown by the UK volunteers.
3. After that we need to start decorating for our Halloween Party.
To make sure that your venue is looking as scary as possible you can decorate with things such as cobwebs and fake spiders.
4. Then once the house is decorated and your guests have arrived it is time to start your party games.
One game that you can play is apple bobbing. This involves putting many apples in a large bucket of water and you must pick an apple out only by using their mouths.
5. Finally, once you have reached the end of the party it is time to go trick-or-treating
Trick-or-treating is when you go door to door of your neighbour’s houses and in return for asking trick-or-treat the give you sweets. The last and final step it to get back home, enjoy the sweets that you have collected from your neighbours, and be proud of yourself for hosting a Spooktacular Halloween party!
Written byJessica Ginnelly
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