British Expat Newsletter: October 2010
This month: Halloween – how its commercialisation continues apace, even in the face of gathering economic gloom.
Gralloching a pumpkin
“When I was a bairn, in the north east of Scotland, we had never heard of pumpkins. With the advent of colour television last year, I realised neeps had competition. In black and white, you can’t tell the difference.” Mike Clark takes a look at the origins of Halloween and the traditional celebrations running into Guy Fawkes Night.
Halloween in Portugal
Celebrating Halloween, as we know it, here in Portugal is a relatively new social phenomenon. Witches and ghouls galore, kids’ parties, commercial tra la la. This…
Halloween horrors
“I’m really not looking forward to this Halloween. I realise that I may be being unnecessarily curmudgeonly here – Halloween is meant to be a bit of fun. But I blame it on the season. Though there are things to enjoy at this time of year – the autumn leaves, conkers and (occasional) crisp bright mornings – there is no getting away from it, winter is drawing in.” With all the hassles of dressing up kids for trick-or-treating, and trying to ration the resulting pile of sweets, Halloween is not Miranda Irving’s favourite festival.