The first people to celebrate Halloween were the . The tradition goes back more than years.
Originally, the was when the Celts celebrated the end of and the beginning of the cold, dark time of the year. This festival was called . This night was also the Celtic . People believed it was a magical time when walked the earth. The villagers made big bonfires to send the ghosts back to the and keep them away from the living.
The meaning of this festival changed because the didn't like the idea of people participating in pagan celebrations. In the 7th century, the Vatican merged the ancient Celtic festival with a new holiday called on the 1st of November. The purpose of this new holiday was to honour martyrs and the dead. Both Samhain and All Saints Day were about the .
The name of All Saints Day was originally, Hallowmass or Mass of the Holy. The night before Hallowmass was All Hallows Eve which eventually turned into .
In the 1840s, many Irish went to America because there was a potato famine in Ireland and many people were �there. They took the holiday with them. Some of the Halloween traditions that they went to America with them include, Bobbing-for-Apples and playing on people. The young people who played tricks on people wore masks so that nobody would recognise them. They went and if people didn't give them sweets, they vandalised their houses. Some of the things they did included thowing toilet paper or egg at the houses.
Shop owners started giving trick-or-treaters to stop them from causing trouble. Eventually, "Trick or treat!" became the Halloween greeting.
�
