Halloween is a night that is celebrated globally every year on October 31st. Most Ugandans take Halloween to bars and last Saturday, almost all bars in Kampala celebrated Halloween, some charged entrance fee and others didn’t. At Laftaz comedy lounge in Centenary Park, guest came in to celebrate the day; they were dressed in various Halloween costumes.
Halloween is a celebration observed in a number of countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows’ Day. It begins the three-day observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.
Halloween activities include attending Halloween costume parties, decorating, carving pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing and divination games, playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories and watching horror films. But in Uganda, they only celebrate in bars where most of the activities are not participated in.
The word Halloween or Hallowe’en dates to about 1745 and is of Christian origin.The word “Halloween” means “hallowed evening” which comes from a Scottish term for All Hallows’ Eve (the evening before All Hallows’ Day). In Scots, the word “eve” is even, and this is contracted to e’en or een. Over time, (All) Hallow(s) E(v)en evolved into Halloween.
