29/10/2026
I'm as surprised as anyone that Halloween has become such a big deal in our house. As I say, I have more decorations for Halloween than I do for Christmas!
Every year I go to an enormous amount of trouble to put on a community party. It started with just the village, and it has grown. Now I invite the elders in the village, plus friends from school and kickboxing. There are fire pits, a piñata, games and marshmallows roasted round the campfire before everyone heads off trick-or-treating. This year it's tomorrow and not on the night itself, so friends who want to trick-or-treat in their own areas can still come.
It's what I believe community should be about: all ages around a fire, no screens, no agenda. All the elders caring for all the young with love and a sense of shared responsibility.
It also makes sense, given the journey my life has taken over the last few years as I've paid much more attention to the seasons, to nature and to the old rhythms of the year, that Halloween became my thing. It is the biggest of those turning points, and that feels right to me.
Some learning. Halloween grows out of Samhain, an ancient Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest and the start of the dark half of the year.
People lit bonfires and wore disguises, and it's thought that this is where costumes come from.
The name comes from "All Hallows' Eve", the night before the Christian feast of All Saints on 1 November.
Trick-or-treating likely grew out of older customs such as "souling" and "guising", where people went door to door in costume for food or songs. So when children knock on doors this weekend, they're taking part in something very old.
What's your Halloween tradition? Do you go all out, or keep it simple?
