According to Wikipedia, Halloween (or Hallowe’en) is an annual holida
y observed on October 31, primarily in Canada, Ireland, the United States and the United Kingdom. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holiday All Saints’ Day, but is today largely a secular celebration.
Common Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes and attending costume parties, carving jack-o’-lanterns, ghost tours, bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, committing pranks, telling ghost stories or other frightening tales, and watching horror films.
How did Halloween become a ‘thing’ in Trinidad? My guess is that Trinis look for any excuse to have a party! In the week leading up to Halloween, a multitude of costume parties and other celebrations were advertised. Local stores even had special sales on costumes and accessories.
According to the Trinidad Express, entrepreneur Richard Marso
n, owner of Richard Halloween Headquarters, is the country’s leading supplier of Halloween costumes and decorations. “Richards” is a party supply store located at Westmall, Westmoorings. In the past decade, the celebrations of the widely popular North American holiday has been increasing with many clubs now hosting Halloween parties therefore an increasing demand for costumes and decorations.
There was even a Carnival band launch entitled Halloween. Over Halloween weekend, several local TV stations had a marathon of horror movies. I suppose its not surprising that a North American holiday has become such a huge celebration in T&T. But it better not become another public holiday!
I’m not against Halloween but I do not like horror movies. So what are you doing for Halloween in T&T? Trick or Treat?
