31st October marks Halloween; and what better way to celebrate than to go all out with a trip to one of the numerous Halloween festivals that take place across the globe?
If you’re looking for a spectacularly spooky celebration, why not pay a visit to one of these ten options?
The Day of the Innocents on 1st November is followed by the Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos) on 2nd November. Many of the traditions are the same as Halloween – the decorations, the costumes and more – but the history is different. The Day of the Dead is held as a celebration to honour the dead – it’s believed that their spirits return to spend time with their families on this day.
The Fete Gede takes place in Haiti throughout November, but the majority of the festivities are at the start of the month. The annual voodoo festival sees people gathering at the main cemetery to honour the spirits (Gede) by bringing gifts, drinking, playing music and doing ritual dances.
This nine day carnival celebrates all things spooky with plenty of activities: a parade, fire dancing, fireworks, haunted houses, horror story telling, ghost tours, scary movies and more.
Taking place from 20th to 31st October, this huge Halloween festival features not only a huge annual Halloween costume party, but plenty of other events, from Halloween makeup workshops to all-night horror movie screenings.
Yue Lan is Hong Kong’s Hungry Ghost Festival; it’s a traditional Buddhist and Taoist festival which takes place on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month each year. During this month, restless spirits are said to roam the Earth. The festival sees Chinese people attempting to appease the ghosts. You’ll see roadside fires, the burning of fake money, food left out for the ghosts and plenty of other offerings too.
Taking place on various evenings from September to November, The Great Jack-O-Lantern Blaze sees the beautiful 18th setting of Van Cortlandt Manor being lit up with 7,000 pumpkins, all of which are individually carved by hand on-site. Different areas have different themes, and the event was completely sold out last year.
Salem is a town known for witch hunting, and the highlight of its Halloween celebrations is its Witches’ Halloween Ball. The town’s Haunted Happenings events have been taking place since 1982, and you’ll find an entire programme of events taking place throughout the month of October.
The West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval is the biggest Halloween street party in the world. 500,000 people are expected to descend on Santa Monica Boulevard: there will be live music, food trucks, costumes galore and a great party atmosphere.
28th to 31st October sees Galway’s Latin Quarter taken over by a variety of Halloween events. The annual parade takes place on the 30th, with a different theme every year, while on the 29th, the annual Monster Dash sees participants dress up in their best costumes to roam the streets, with costume prizes in various categories.
Featuring a less scary daytime event for younger visitors and a terrifying night time event for real scares, Frightmare is the place to be in South West England. The highlight is its five live action attractions, all featuring live actors for maximum scares!
So if you feel like enjoying a spectacularly spooky Halloween this year, why not venture out and enjoy the wonderful sights that Mexico, Ireland, Hong Kong or Amsterdam has to offer – scary yet exciting sounds like a great trip to us!
However, you don’t want your stunning Halloween holiday experience to be ruined through being ill abroad, suffering sickness abroad, dealing with food poisoning on holiday, injury or theft.So if anything does happen to you, make sure to file holiday illness claims or holiday accident claims, as soon as you’re back!
