• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Language / How Did the Celebration of Halloween Originate and Where Did the All Hallows Eve Festival Come From?

How Did the Celebration of Halloween Originate and Where Did the All Hallows Eve Festival Come From?

June 18, 2020 by Karen Hill

The ancient Celts celebrated October 31 as New Year’s Eve.

They called the day “All Hallows Eve.”

The Celts believed that on that night, all those who had died in the previous twelve months gathered to choose the body of a living person or animal to inhabit for the next year before they could pass into the afterlife.

The original Halloween festival included customary human sacrifices and scary costumes, all designed to protect the living from the dead.

The festival also has ties to the Celtic festival of Samhain, which celebrates the end of the “lighter half” of the year and beginning of the “darker half”.

Related Facts

  • Why Is Halloween Spooky?
  • Where did Halloween come from and What does the word Halloween mean?
  • Why Do We Celebrate New Year’s Eve With Noise Makers and Kissing Strangers?
  • 10 Inventions That We Can’t Live Without
  • How Did the Custom of Trick-or-Treating During Halloween Originate and Where Did the Practice Come From?
  • Where Did the Halloween Tradition of Bobbing For Apples Come From and What Does it Symbolize?

Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « Where Did Jack-o’-Lanterns For Halloween Come From and How Did the Tradition of Carving Pumpkins Originate?
Next Post: How Did the Shamrock Become the Symbol of St. Patrick the Patron Saint of Ireland? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2020 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy