Poland

TRADITIONAL HALLOWEEN FUN

If you live in a big city, you may be invited to a Halloween party in a club or a Polish friend’s home. What should you do? Of course, have fun! Nearly all clubs in Poland have a Halloween Party on October 31st. Choose a costume which is going to be scary and eye-catching, then prepare yourself for a lot of frightening fun!
On your way to a party you may see dressed up children playing trick or treat. Even though not every door opens, they are not discouraged. Children knock on the door of each family just in order to get some sweets or scare their friends. The next day at school they will swagger in and boast about how many sweets they got and who had the best costume (and of course, we, as mature and responsible people, who dress as vampires just because we can, will be talking about the bloody shots which made the night (un)forgettable, while at the same time humming Thriller by Michael Jackson and thinking about that the werewolf/were-she-wolf that was rather good company).

WHAT HAPPENS IN POLAND INSTEAD OF HALLOWEEN

The next two days, the 1st and 2nd of November, are national holidays (unfortunately not because people need to have time to recover from the previous days’ Halloween party hangover). The 1st and 2nd of November are very important days – All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. In Poland most people travel to the places where their relatives were buried. They meet at the graves, pray for those who are gone and talk about good things they did. It is a serious celebration having nothing in common with a happy Halloween. It is time to be with the closest people and think of those who are no longer among us. If you’ve never thought of going to the cemetery at night (we hope you didn’t!) you should consider it on All Saints’ Day. It is absolutely breathtaking – thousands of candles, flowers and a magical (not scary at all) atmosphere.