Halloween In Italy

Many believe that Halloween has surpassed Carnevale in popularity, Italy’s version of the two weeks before Lent when people become crazy about dressing up and pulling practical jokes on their friends. This is especially true among younger generations. Not familiar? Yes, a lot of stuff does resemble what Americans do on Halloween. Along with being a holiday known for tricks and Halloween costumes, Carnevale shares many similarities with Halloween. Additionally, certain dishes are exclusively produced during this time of year, including the Carri di Carnevale, some of which are well-known internationally (consider Venice and Viareggio).

However, Halloween has come a long way in Italy over the past several years. Additionally, research shows that “Halloween” appears more frequently than “Carnevale” in online searches in Italy. 

Do Italians Celebrate Halloween?

While Halloween is yet to be as widely observed in Italy as in North America, it is unquestionably growing in popularity. There are eerie décor, Halloween-themed treats, and even some family-friendly events. However, other customs like trick-or-treating and even bobbing for apples are considerably less frequent.

Halloween is celebrated on October 31 everywhere else in the globe, including Italy. All Saints’ Day, which falls on November 1, is the country of Italy’s major national holiday. You may anticipate that public agencies will be closed because All Saints’ Day is a national holiday in Italy. But that means you may host your Halloween celebration the night before and avoid having to get up early the next day.

Then comes All Souls Day on November 2.

Even though Halloween may not be a recognized holiday in Italy, there are still many ways to observe the day. Pumpkin carving kits may be found in some shops (typically Carrefour), and some farms are beginning to host pumpkin patches. To find out whether there are any close to your city, search for “giardino delle zucche” online.

Of course, Halloween and dolcetto o scherzetto, or “trick or treat,” are hugely popular among children in Italy. Door-to-door sales are not practiced in this area, but some establishments embrace the holiday by throwing Halloween-themed evenings where children may run around in costumes. The trick-or-treating occasions are typically conducted in museums, amusement parks, or marketplaces, and they resemble carnivals more than anything else.

Italians prefer to dress up during Carnivale, which occurs just before Lent. Children frequently dress up in costumes and scatter confetti. Who among children would pass up the chance to dress up for Halloween once more? In October, you’ll also see some superheroes and witches playing in their costumes after school.

Halloween is still very much associated with its frightening roots in Italy, so the better the costume, the scarier and gorier. If you see any humorous costumes or gorgeous nurses at all, don’t expect to see them.

How Was Halloween Introduced Into Italian Culture?

Through movies, TV, and other popular culture, Italy imported this event from the United States. It all began as a method to amuse kids with the well-known trick-or-treat tradition. Carnevale is still superior, but trends unquestionably shift in favor of Halloween. The religious authorities in Italy are now dealing with some controversy. 

Many worries that Halloween will become another reason to party instead of the time it was intended—a time to mourn and honor our deceased loved ones. 

Italy celebrates All Saints Day on November 1 and All Souls Day on November 2, respectively.

 All Souls Day and All Saints Day are similarly observed in Italy, so if we examine Halloween’s natural history and significance, we’ll find that they’re not all that unlike. The spirit of Halloween is deeply steeped in antiquity and primarily originates from Europe, even if it is an American holiday from a commercial standpoint. Samhain, or Halloween, as it was known to the Celts, was initially only a day set aside to commemorate and respect the departed.

It has served as a reminder of the human need to remember and cherish those who have passed on in our physical world even before the birth of Christ. 

In Scotland and Ireland, Halloween festivities were quite popular, and when people from these countries emigrated to the US in the 19th century, they brought this custom with them. 

While Europe kept to the more religiously concerned All Saints and All Souls Day customs, America turned Halloween into what it is today.

Before Halloween, Italy Honors The Dead

Memorial days were a regular occurrence in Europe. Romans commemorated the Lemuria and the Parentalia, two festivals honoring the deceased in their families and the general dead.

Pope Boniface IV created All Saints Day in the seventh century to honor the martyr saints who died for their religion. The ceremony was initially held on May 13. It was replaced by the pagan celebration of the end of Summer, which was similarly wholly dedicated to the worship of the dead, about a century later, and shifted to November 1.

Here Comes Halloween With An Italian Accent

It was the beginning of the 1990s. There were little traces of Halloween: stores sold candles and decorations for a holiday. Halloween-themed merchandise appeared in stores with time, including rows of costumes, cosmetics, and other decorations. Italians are content to honor their deceased on All Souls Day. Therefore the significance of Halloween to them is irrelevant. Halloween is only a pretext for holding another festival. Italians would only continue to identify as such if this were the case. Any day is lovely for a party.

The American television shows and films of the 1980s introduced Halloween to Italians; Spielberg’s ET served as an example. The likes of Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm’s Street, and Halloween established the weirdest backdrops for this type of old candy-land event in Italy, leaving gnarly looks on the faces of Europeans. As it turned out, the Italians liked these extravagant, over-the-top celebrations. Adult costume parties are being conducted more frequently, and modest “trick-or-treating” sessions are becoming customary in schools.

But let’s pay attention to the historical context of Halloween.

The Celts

It was believed that the Celtic people could speak with the hereafter because they were so in tune with their spirituality. They had deep regard for the dead and the afterlife. Thus it is most probable that one of their celebrations, Samhain (as noted above), is where Halloween started. Samhain celebrations lasted for three days between the beginning of November and the end of October. Crazy behavior was expected; men and women would dress alike, and many pranks were done. Because Samhain may have been the beginning of the Celtic New Year, it was the most significant of the four fire festivals.

Fires would be kept all winter long during the Samhain ceremonies, and animal and human sacrifices were carried out. The gods received offerings as gifts. The practice of sacrifices finally ended in the 17th century, but the bonfire custom was preserved and is still highly popular in Ireland and the UK today. The word “bonfire” itself is rather intriguing since it originally meant “fire for bones” or “fire of bones” due to the significance of sacrifices. The spelling of the term evolved with time, along with the decadence of sacrificial ceremonies.

Samhain marked the start of a new phase for the Celts and was a momentous occasion. Families came together for a season of long evenings, intense home activities, and lots of story-telling.

Samhain, however, was more than just a holiday. The druids, the first priests of the Celtic religion, understood the significance of these three days. Traveling to “the other side” was safe for those willing and opened since the veil separating this world from the afterlife was pulled back. 

The deceased are revered as loved ones’ living souls who possess profound insight rather than as the dead. The Celts thought that paranormal powers were awake and engaged and that beings could go wherever they liked. The dead could converse with the living, and the living could converse with the dead when they came back to earth. These ghosts have developed into ferocious, devilishly depicted, and malicious spirits throughout time. In Ireland, grave markers were first erected over the bodies of the dead to safeguard the burial and to aid in the deceased’s navigation of the afterlife.

These roving spirits were feared because they could tease people and entice them into their magical realms, where they would be imprisoned forever. To keep these spirits from kidnapping people, villagers desperately tried to amuse them with delicacies like food, wine, or fruits. They believed they might frighten them off by dressing in hideous costumes and wearing masks over their faces. To avoid being seen by the spirits closing in, they would move in groups like demon-like imitations while disguising their identities. 

This is where the concept of dressing up for Halloween originated.

All Saints Day came to be observed at the start of the autumn as Christianity spread over the Celtic world, and through these celebrations, which were reportedly haunted by ghosts, bonds between Christians and Celts were cemented. Due to concerns that it would conflict with the Christian celebrations taking place the next two days, this ceremony finally came to be observed only on October 31.

Samhain remained fundamentally a pagan holiday despite sharing many similarities with All Saints and All Souls Day; it was known as “All Hollows’ Eve,” which gave rise to Halloween.

Halloween Habits

Bobbing For Apples

The practice of “apple bobbing” existed even in the time of the Celts. A bobbing apple would tempt masked partygoers to dip their heads into a bucket of water and grab it with their teeth. The Celts used this as entertainment, and it was believed that the first person to appear with an apple in their teeth would also be the first to get married the following year and be endowed with the power of good fortune.

Jack-O-Lanterns

They may have come from Scotland or Ireland and were used for protection. To scare away the spirits, however, nighttime travelers used lanterns marked with grotesque faces around Samhain. These lanterns were also hung from windows and doorways to shield homes.

In actuality, beets and turnips, which the Irish most likely carved, are most likely what the earliest Jack-o-Lanterns were instead of pumpkins. They were hard to come by once they emigrated to America, so they used pumpkins to carry their custom. These foods were said to stand in for the souls of the deceased. Demon-like features were cut out, and their frightful expressions were thought to warn away evil spirits. If a wicked spirit caught sight of himself, he could flee in horror! So these Jack-o-Lanterns, or pumpkins, served as a form of defense. Due to the lack of popularity, only some Italian kids participate in the fun of carving pumpkins. We hope they will eventually like it, like so many others.

Symbols of Halloween

Nocturnal Animals

Bats, cats, and owls—all rightfully regarded as Halloween icons—were among the nocturnal creatures allegedly capable of communicating with the dead. Modern literature and film have made creatures like vampires and werewolves strongly connected with Halloween. However, they have more to do with the business than the original spiritual form.

Witches & Halloween

Witches also celebrate during this time: According to Halloween lore, witches gather on Halloween to craft charms and spells. When the clock strikes twelve, everyone participates in special rites like dancing around the Sabbath Circle or reading the future with cards or mirrors.

Black Cats

One of the primary Halloween icons is the black cat. Black cats were regarded to be the finest companions for witches since it was thought that they could transform themselves into them. Witchcraft, particularly in the late 1930s when the make-up artists for “The Wizard of Oz” popularised the image of the ugly, decrepit, green-faced witch, is one of the major topics of this festival. Costumes & Trick Or Treat

Italians still agree that Halloween has no significant value for them today. This is accurate because Halloween is a foreign holiday. Italians have honored their deceased on the first and second of November for more than a millennium, thanks to culture and religion. However, as fancy dress parties take over Halloween nights across the nation, Italians have started to appreciate Halloween as a reason to celebrate.

In Italy, trick-or-treating is still less common than in the US. But where does this cherished American custom come from?

Trick-or-treating, however, may have originated from certain uniquely American customs; in the 19th century, “ragamuffin” youngsters from New York City would dress up and beg for money on Thanksgiving. The phrase “trick-or-treat” was finally used in print in 1939. By the middle of the 20th century, Halloween had cooled down to home parties and the mixing of young trick-or-treaters. As we mentioned, only a few Italian kids are familiar with the trick-or-treat custom. Only a select number of them deliver candy, chocolates, and other things in various sizes, shapes, and colors using pillowcases.

Another unique European tradition that may have some link to trick-or-treating is selling. Wandering beggars would look for soul cakes. More prayers were made for their deceased relatives, and the more cakes they could gather. British Mischief Night, when children and adults set aside the night to play tricks on friends, may connect to trick-or-treating on Halloween. Numerous of these customs were introduced by immigrants to America and most likely evolved into trick-or-treating.

Conclusion

Halloween is celebrated in Italy, although not to the same extent or with the same glitz and glamour as in North America. However, there are a few unexpected similarities between more recent Anglo-Saxon customs and age-old Italian traditions. We have covered all the information you want above on Halloween in Italy.