How Do Filipinos Celebrate Halloween?

          What comes in your mind when you hear the word halloween? Is it the usual trick or treats? Carving of pumpkins? Or costume parties? If that are the things that you think of, then set aside all of those for I will share how Filipinos cellebrate halloween.

        Halloween is something special here in the Philippines. It is beyond those usual activities that were mentioned before. We celebrate it through candles, flowers, prayers and a visit to the cemetery.

       Expect that halloween in the Philippines is like a camping or a party where in families reunite and have a chitchat about memories with their loved ones that have passed away. Now, let me share 5 things Filipinos do during Halloween.

5 Things Filipinos Do During Halloween

1.) Playing with melted candle wax

A whole day in the cemetery can get pretty boring for a child (or even for you). So what better way to pass time than gathering all the melted candle wax into small balls?

2.) Cemeteries turn into camping grounds

Come October 31 (or earlier, Filipino families start pitching camping tents (or even huge ones that you see in parties) right beside the grave of their loved ones to prepare for an overnight stay. It’s a huge plus if it’s a lawn cemetery because you don’t have to worry about hurting your back while looking after the dead.

3.) We never forget to serve food to the dead.

Filipinos have the age-old tradition of pag-aatang or offering food (atang) to a deceased loved one. It’s usually a plate full of their favorite meal which is placed on the grave, in front of the altar, or in front of a photograph of the family member who passed away. Who knows?

4.) Lighting candles on the doorstep

By 6 p.m. on November 1 and 2, you’d see candles lined up on the doorstep of your house and your even those of your neighbors. It is believed that this guides dead souls towards the light and a brighter road on their journey to the after-life.

5.) Pangangaluluwa as our own version of trick-or-treating

American kids knock door to door to ask for candies in the evening of October 31, but Filipinos sing about souls and the purgatory while asking alms on the night of November 1. This is an old custom called pangangaluluwa, which is still practiced in the provinces up to this day.

          You might think that it is weird but this is the Halloween Filipino version. It’s very unique indeed but equally as interesting as the Halloween celebration in other parts of the world.

Reference:

https://www.spot.ph/newsfeatures/the-latest-news-features/71927/halloween-filipinos-version-a00171-20171031-lfrm