Celebrating the dead is not only customary in Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia, and other Latin American countries, but in many Catholic societies around the world. Although in many countries people adopt more and more the “trick or treat” way of celebrating this day, imitating US version of Halloween, I want to focus here on how it is still celebrated in parts of Italy.

Some interesting facts about Halloween and the link to the Celtic festival of Samhain (summer’s end):

Historian Nicholas Rogers, exploring the origins of Halloween, notes that while “some folklorists have detected its origins in the Roman feast of Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, or in the festival of the dead called Parentalia, it is more typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain, which comes from the Old Irish for “summer’s end”.  (Rogers, Nicholas (2002). “Samhain and the Celtic Origins of Halloween”.