Halloween in England

History experts say Halloween goes back more than two thousand years to the Celts of ancient Britain.October 31st was the Celtic Day of the autumn feast.On that day,priests of the Celtic religion prayed that the spirits of the dead would return to their homes for a few hours.The Celts built huge fires to frighten away evil spirits released with the dead on that night.

Hundreds of years later,the Roman Catholic Church made November first a day to honor Christian Saints.It was called Hallow Eve or Halloween.The name came from the church.But the traditions were closer too the old Celtic beliefs. People from Scotland and Ireland brought these traditions to America.Many people still believed spirits played tricks on people on the last night of October. In the late 19th century,American boys helped the spirits with tricks of their own.On Halloween,they would do things like change street signs or put a wagon on top of a house.

American children continue to celebrate Halloween today.Many adults enjoy the holiday as well.They go to holiday parties dress as ghosts,monsters or famous people from history. Children continue these Halloween traditons by going out to"Trick or Treat".They dress as frightening creatures or characters from prpular movies.They go from house to house asking for candy.They may also ask for money for the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund.They send the money to UNICEF to help needy children around te would.