Halloween is still largely considered to be an American holiday, but more and more countries are joining in on the spooky sweet fun each year, and it seems like Halloween may one day be a holiday that the entire world celebrates together!
France
Photo: Fracassi Family
Don’t you know that you don’t get a treat if you’re not wearing a costume? In France it’s no costume no problem, and even though they’re relatively new to the holiday, people are happy to give out treats to any trick-or-treaters who show up at their door.
Photo: Lupo Lupo/Flickr
Costumed kids and parents take to the streets of Paris, France in search of sweets. It has become a yearly tradition for families to go trick-or-treating around Paris on Halloween night, due in large part to the 1997 advertising push by American companies and France’s own Telecom to make Halloween an official holiday.
England
Photo: SiGarb/Wikimedia Commons
The Antrobus Soul-Cakers are a British mummers troupe (folk actors) who perform a souling play (a play about death and revival) each year at Halloween for the eager holiday crowds in Cheshire. This picture was taken in 1976, but the tradition is just as popular today as it was back then.
Photo: National Geographic
Fang-tastic Halloween decorations were strung across a busy street in Blackpool, England back in 1998, earning it the nickname Halloween Highway.
Japan
Photo: HAMACHI!/Flickr
Parents and kids take to the streets of the Harajuku District in one of many parades that take place in honor of Halloween. You gotta love a parade, especially one full of people in crazy costumes!
Photo: HAMACHI!/Flickr
An epic jack-o-lantern display at the Tama-city shopping center in Tokyo. The Japanese have embraced Halloween in a big way, and pumpkin carving is a favorite part of the festivities.
Photo: HAMACHI!/Flickr
Three costume clad revelers who took part in the Kawasaki Halloween parade. It’s hard to tell if they’re having a good time with those masks on, but there’s no denying how much effort they put into those fabulous mythological themed costumes.
Canada
Photo: Verne Equinox/Wikimedia Commons
Here we see one of the contestants in the yearly Giant Pumpkin Regatta, which has taken place in Windsor, Nova Scotia since 1999. The PVC pumpkin boats, or personal vegetable crafts, generally weigh over 500 pounds and are divided into three categories: experimental, motor and paddle. Imagine how hard it must be to paddle one of those massive pumpkin boats to victory!
Photo: Jaunted
Staff members from Canada’s Wonderland Halloween Haunt stand ready to scare guests out of their costumes! Canada’s Wonderland is the biggest theme park in country, and every year around Halloween they follows in the footsteps of American theme parks like Knott’s Berry Farm and Universal Studios, becoming a massive Haunt in honor of the spookiest of all holidays.
Spain
Photo: epSos.de/Wikimedia Commons
Cute kids in even cuter costumes hamming it up for the camera at the Halloween Carnival in Gran Canaria de Spain. The Spanish don’t really celebrate Halloween, aside from dressing up and throwing parties, but in Gran Canaria the holiday is beginning to catch on, and the Carnival gets bigger every year.
Ireland
Photo: Ardfern/Wikimedia Commons
.JPG){kind=link}
Masks line the window of this novelty shop in Dublin. It’s interesting to see which famous personalities the Irish have chosen to make into masks-Alice Cooper, President Obama, and is that Stan Laurel on the left?
Photo: Sarah777/Wikimedia Commons
Terrifying trick-or-treaters appeared out of thin air on the streets of Dublin. The Irish are credited, along with the Scots, as being the folks who brought Halloween to North America, so it makes sense that they’d enjoy trick-or-treating as much as we do.
Northern Ireland
Photo: Duff Rafferty
Happy Halloweenies pose for pictures on the streets of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Irish are big on Halloween, and like many other countries they enjoy attending the street festivals which take place on Halloween night.
Photo: Britannica
A dazzling shot of the Halloween Festival parade in Londonderry, Ulster, Northern Ireland. The festival runs for five days on the banks of the Foyle river, and it’s considered Derry’s premiere annual event. It looks like a colorful way to spend Halloween!
Antarctica
Photo: eliduke/Flickr
A pack of Halloweenies braved the Antarctic cold to pose for pictures in their silly costumes. Antarctica is such an inhospitable continent that everyone takes their Halloween fun very seriously, but it’s far too cold for kids to go out trick-or-treating.
Taiwan
Photo: From USA to KSA
School kids all dressed up and ready for some candy take to the streets of Taipei, Taiwan with some help from their teacher. Trick-or-treating has proven to be the most popular part of Halloween
Photo: Daniel M. Shih/Flickr
A massive Halloween store in Taipei all lit up and ready for business. People from all over Taiwan have embraced the American version of Halloween, and more and more families are decorating their homes for the holiday each year.
Italy
Photo: Staff Sgt. Michael R. Holzworth/Wikimedia Commons
Military personnel at the Aviano Air Force Base treat costumed kiddies to Halloween fun and lots of candy, if they can survive a silly string attack! American military personnel enjoying sharing their holiday traditions with the countries they’re stationed within, and the kids in this pic sure don’t seem to mind.
Photo: Gardaland/Flickr
A performer from Gardaland Park, Europe’s third most popular amusement park, proves that Hell has come to Lake Garda for Halloween. Gardaland is yet another theme park which has begun celebrating Halloween, and each year the park is transformed into a massive Haunt.
Sweden
Photo: Toyah Anette B/Wikimedia Commons
Swedish kids love to trick-or-treat , so these hip young trick-or-treaters hit the neighborhoods in Stockholm, Sweden to see what kind of treats they could scare up. You can’t see what sort of expression the grim reaper is making, but his witchy friend looks totally Emo!
Photo: Michael Caven/Flickr
Hundreds of candles are lit up around trees at Skogskyrkogården in Stockholm, Sweden in celebration of both Halloween and the upcoming All Saints holiday. In Sweden, Pagan and Christian holidays are often combined, resulting in a new twist on tradition.
Hong Kong
Photo: Examiner
A terrifying group of ghoulish teens seen hanging around the city streets in Hong Kong, where they must have scared the life out of those uninitiated in the ways of Halloween. The people of Hong Kong enjoy getting together and parading in costume, and like the Japanese this is a major part of their annual Halloween experience.
Photo: HKYDC/Wikimedia Commons
Hong Kong has embraced the Halloween tradition, but for them it’s more about the kids having a good time rather than an excuse for adults to party. Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park, their biggest theme park, are both popular destinations for folks wanting to enjoy some Halloween themed fun.
Belgium
Photo: Blurppy
There’s an old fashioned air about Halloween in Belgium, and who doesn’t love stuffing their gob with chocolate? Like many European countries the Belgians prefer their Halloween treats to be crafted, not mass produced, a tradition which has sadly declined in America due to fear of sabotaged sweets.
Photo: Missvain/Wikimedia Commons
Even the famous Mannekin Pis statue in Brussels, Belgium gets all dressed up for Halloween. I hope his costume stays dry!
Iceland
Photo: bjarnit/Flickr
A neat looking dragon, scary cat and swashbuckling pirate hanging out together at a costume party in Iceland. In Iceland, Halloween is an excuse to get together with friends and family, dress up and enjoy some sweet treats, and it’s nice to see that they enjoy sporting homemade costumes!
Photo: Helgi Halldorsson/Flickr
Another shot from a mask shop, this one located in a flea market in Reykjavik's Old Harbour. It’s interesting to see who each country chooses to immortalize in mask form, and from what we’ve seen President Obama is in every mask shop collection across the globe!
Mexico
Photo: Ady_MUM/DeviantART
If you’re in Mexico City around Halloween beware-werewolf bikers have taken to the streets in search of fresh meat. His buddy sure looks like he could use a square meal, he’s all bones!
Photo: AlejandroLinaresGarcia/Wikimedia Commons
Costume clad revelers hanging out on a balcony overlooking the Halloween parade and festivities taking place on Madero Street in Mexico City. In Mexico, Halloween is an excuse to dress up and party, and is little more than a prelude to El Dia de los Muertos, or All Souls Day.
Netherlands
Photo: dirk huijssoon/Flickr
These outdoor decorations from Zonnehoeve, Sunfarm, in Langereis, North Holland will cast a spell on you, and isn’t the use of monstrous mushrooms a fun addition to this tableau? Halloween is overshadowed in Holland by Saint Martin’s Day, which is celebrated by going around the neighborhoods with lanterns getting treats and singing songs. These days some people just keep their Halloween décor up in honor of Saint Martin’s Day, kind of a two-for-one on Fall holidays!
Photo: I4U News
A vampiric mother and child take to the streets of Amsterdam during the annual Halloween parade, which winds up at nearby Westergasterrein Park. With a carnival atmosphere and lots of adult dress up fun, Amsterdam seems like a fun city to visit around Halloween.
Photo: WalibiHolland/Flickr
This hatter must have gone mad from hanging out in a bright neon room all day every day, he’s part of the Alice in Horrorland haunted house at the Walibi theme park in Holland, yet another European theme park transformed in honor of Halloween.
Brazil
Photo: polentafria/Flickr
The Pelotas Zombie Walk is sort of a cross between Halloween and a Day of the Dead celebration, and it takes place in Rio Grande do Sul each year on November 3rd . Many people start partying on Halloween and don’t stop until after the zombie walk, which gives them a truly zombified appearance!
Germany
Photo: Get In Travel
Germans, like many other Europeans, head to a theme park to celebrate Halloween. Their park of choice is Europa Park, located near Strasburg in a town called Rust. Europa Park’s Horror Nights are legendary for dishing out the scares and some incredibly good food!
Australia
Photo: The Telegraph
These lovely ladies are members of the Halloween Institute of Australia, who are trying to get Halloween recognized as an official holiday. Australians may be rather new to celebrating Halloween, but they seem to enjoy it more than most!
Scotland
Photo: The Writer’s Vineyard
Here’s a witchy woman who’s on the lookout for any scamps or ne’er-do-wells trying to make off with her harvest. The Scots, along with the Irish, are credited with bringing the incarnation of Halloween we know and love today with them when they migrated to North America in the 19th century.
Photo: Facebook/Scotland
Halloween is all about tradition in Scotland, and since the days of old Samhain the Scots have been burning a wicker ram to celebrate the harvest and the spirits rising all around. Any tradition that involves fire and an effigy seems like it would be great fun to watch!
Denmark
Photo: Living The Danish Life
Folks in Copenhagen, Denmark head to the Tivoli Gardens amusement park to celebrate Halloween. Tivoli Gardens opened in 1843, and it’s still one of Copenhagen’s most popular attractions, but things really get jumping in Tivoli when All Hallow’s Eve arrives in late October.
We here at Neatorama would like to wish everyone around the world a sweet, spooky, and safe Halloween!
I have to say that the Spain picture displayed is totaly unaccurate as the celebration in Gran Canaria is the Carnival, an the end of February, nothing to do with pumpkins.