There are many different traditions that are celebrated around Halloween throughout the world. Some of the biggest celebrations are Pchum Ben, Japan Halloween, Hungry Ghost festival. These events happen in Mexico, China, Taiwan, Japan. Each one of them is unique and has different beliefs and traditions.
Pchum Ben is a celebration that takes place in Cambodia on September 21. Pchum Ben is also known as Ancestor Day where they celebrate their ancestors. Pchum Ben is a 15-day celebration, and it is their most important, and significant time of the year. These days, they have lots of food to offer, each family makes food such as rice balls also called bay ben, they throw them in the air or on the ground for the “Hungry Spirits”. Durning these 15 days they visit the pagodas; it is a time for them to go to the temples and makes prayers and offerings. This is also a time for families to become closer and communities to because closer also. There are around 1.8 to 2.1 million people that come to join Pchum Ben every year; some are local, and others travel from far places to celebrate.
The next tradition that is celebrating is Japan Halloween; Japan Halloween is on October 31. The main cities that celebrate are Tokyo and Osaka. Some traditions and things they do on Halloween are, they dress up in costumes that are mostly themed, they have planned parades, they have public street parties, and there is no trick-or-treating. Japan’s Halloween parades are very popular, several people come to it, it is very crowded, and everyone is dressed up in creative costumes, normally the parade lasts 2.5 hours. During Halloween, they have street parties that last from late afternoon until late at night. This is where people meet up and have gatherings. Japan does not do trick or treating because they believe that it goes against their culture and it not good for the people.
The next Halloween Traditions is the Hungry Ghost Festival. This is a Festival that takes place in China and is normally in August or September. This is a time when they believe that the gates of the underworld open. This day is for them to honor the spirits, mostly the ones who have been struggling and gone through hard times. This is celebrated with lots of food and drinks. They also bring paper that you can burn because they believe that when you burn it, all the smoke and flames will carry all the offering into the spirit world. During this time people avoid doing things such as getting married, getting a new job, or making big decisions because they think that the spirits are around and they don’t want bad luck to come upon them at the time.
In conclusion, there are several different traditions that are celebrated across the world that happen at different times of the year. They all have different beliefs and traditions. Some of the big traditions are Pchum Ben, Japan Halloween, Hungry Ghost festival. These events are all celebrated at different times, and places; they each have unique beliefs behind each of them.
