Saturday, November 1, 2008

Italian Halloween?


We italians don't really know what Halloween is. I had a faint idea so I went on the web and searched the history of this event. I found it really interesting. The season change, from summer/light to winter/dark was a big issue for the people, centuries ago, and it is totally understandable. Irish and scottish myths related to the season change took over to the the US, with immigration, I guess.
We celebrate all Saints today and the dead people tomorrow but this is all about going to church and to the cemetery, no parties and spooky things to scare the spirits of the darkness... Although Halloween is breaking through in Italy as well, for now it remains on the surface, a matter of big commercial event.
My daughter (3 years) is so enthusiastic about Halloween, maybe they did something at school, she understood it is something about pumpkins, fairies and spiders!

Did you do something special for Halloween?

9 comments:

Joy said...

I love this market! I think you are so lucky to be living in Verona!

Do visit Norwich Daily Photo and find out what I have in store for this month's theme. Happy theme day! Enjoy your weekend!

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nobu said...

Did you take it this morning?
Every things looks fresh.
I love this market too.
It gives me some inspiration.

By the way Japanese pumpkin is very small.
I think many of Japanese don't know what Halloween.(me too)

Jane Hards Photography said...

I have jsut done two posts on Halloween and it's origins in my country. It is strange thing to celebrate.

Fio said...

Anche noi polacchi festeggiamo "Ognissanti" in questi giorni. In Polonia la festa di Halloween ha raggiunto popolarita' pochi anni fa (come "Valentine's Day - per esempio)
Dicono che ogni occasione è giusta per festeggiare...
Pero' tutte queste zucche tra le candele e fiori nelle bancarelle, sembrano un po' strano e divertente ;)

Un bacetto alla tua piccolina :))

Kitty said...

there's a lot going on.
what a festive market?

I would love to go to such a place. I can just imagine the ambiance!

Jill said...

First this is a wonderful shot of a wonderful marketplace. How I would love to stroll around.

Our family does not accept the evil, sinister connotations of 'halloween', but as a child it was an opportunity for lots of free candy and treats. We dressed up as princesses, cowboys or firemen and knocked on neighborhood doors. Our reward was tons of candy, popcorn balls, carmel apples, and cupcakes. Things have changed as there is very little door-to-door now. Shopping malls and festivities at churches are safer places for kids to dress up and gather free candy and treats and play fun games.

Ming the Merciless said...

You are probably right about the significance of Halloween. It's a mixture of secular beliefs (harvest, season change) and religious practices (All Saints Day).

I didn't do anything special for Halloween except eat lots of chocolates. :-)

Unknown said...

you are so lucky you found real pumpkins in Verona! Here only sad yellow squashes that hardly resembled a pumpkin worth carving. This year we sat around and thought what we have dressed Emilio (our 17 month year old) up as for Halloween if we were still in NY??? I still don't know the answer!

Passage to Italy said...

Hi Valeria!


When I was little, my brother, sister and I used to dress up. We went trick or treating from house to house with a large group of kids. Nowadays, since we're older, we do not dress up anymore. It's usually children who dress up and go out for treats. Although there are adult Halloween parties, but none of my friends or I hold one.

We used to also carve pumpkins. My mom once carved an entire scene with a haunted house and ghosts! Now we just put a few pumpkins outside and around the house. There's never any time to sit down for that. It takes a long time to do if you want to do something really intricate and worthwhile.

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