I know this sounds more like "Lounge"-fare but it brings up greater issues of culture, consumerism and commercialism, and "Americanization." Note this BBC article:

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6103436.stm

 

French shun Halloween 'gimmicks'

 

Halloween is seen as "too American" by some

Halloween is said to be dying in France after a short-lived bonanza, according to media reports.

It seems the festival, which came to prominence in the late 1990s, is in decline because it is perceived as "too American".

 

An association called No to Halloween - which was set up to combat the trend - has now wound down as a result of the festival's waning appeal.

 

It said Halloween was artificially inflated to serve commercial interests.

 

"There was no need for the group to exist any more," former president Arnaud Guyot-Jeannin told Reuters news agency.

 

"Halloween was a marketing gimmick aimed mainly at children. It's a big festival of consumption selling outfits, masks, gadgets and it couldn't last forever," he added.

 

As a result, supermarkets are reported have lost interest in the festival this year.

 

"Apart from a few local celebrations, Halloween is no longer taken into account by our stores," Thierry Desouches of Systeme U supermarket told Catholic newspaper La Croix.

 

"This lack of interest is real in all big-name supermarkets," he added.

 

"Our Halloween sales have been falling by half every year since 2002," Franck Mathais of toy retailer La Grande Recre told Le Monde newspaper.

 

'Anti-Americanism'

 

Benoit Pousset, head of costume company Cesar, attributed the festival's demise to "a cultural reaction linked to the rise of anti-Americanism".

 

The company itself is thriving in the US where - through its division Disguise - it provides one-third of all the Halloween costumes sold in the country.

 

Opposition to the festival is especially strong in French religious quarters, with the Catholic church seeking to promote All Saints' Day as the celebration of choice at this time of year.

 

Halloween grew alongside other "Anglo-Saxon" imports such as Valentine's Day or the stag or hen party which have become increasingly popular in recent years, correspondents say.

 

So I'm wondering if people from other countries celebrate it (though I realize this forum is decidedly Anglo-centric ;)). Even still, is Halloween also an English tradition or just a "new" holiday invented by corporations to get Brits to buy candy and fake blood? And if so, did it work?

i certainly didnt celebrate halloween... it has become a circus now, commercialised and somewhat ritual. it is halloween, this is what we do...

Me and my girlfriend kinda did..... :blush: It was low-key though, just us, bit of pumpkin soup and some silly little cakes.... :lol:

Perhaps the question was did you buy any commerical products to delebrate hallowen. Fireworks, food, costumes etc.

 

Let's all forget about it.

Perhaps the question was did you buy any commerical products to delebrate hallowen. Fireworks, food, costumes etc.

 

 

 

No, we made the soup and cakes..... :D

 

And, with some of the stuff I've got in my wardrobe, there is seriously no need to actually buy a particular costume.... :lol: :lol:

 

And, with some of the stuff I've got in my wardrobe, there is seriously no need to actually buy a particular costume.... :lol: :lol:

 

LOL! :lol:

 

We didn't. There's some sort of party I think soon but it's a bit late now really.

I live in Brazil... There was no "Halloween" here some years ago, since we did have 2 holidays in the same week - All Saints Day on Nov 1st and the Day of the Deads on Nov 2, both bank holidays when nobody worked.

 

In recent years, the government took the "holiday status" from the All Saints Day and now we work normally on this day, but we still have a holiday on Nov 2 when people go to the cemeteries to visit the sepultures of their dead relatives - lol.

 

Some English Schools started celebrating halloween a few years ago and it´s getting bigger and bigger. These days we have horror movies on the TV and many halloween parties which grow every year. I see this as pure americanization. It has nothing to do with our culture, and we have better national traditions to celebrate. In a few cities with a german descendent population, Oct 31st is still remembered as Reform Day.

I live in Brazil... There was no "Halloween" here some years ago, since we did have 2 holidays in the same week - All Saints Day on Nov 1st and the Day of the Deads on Nov 2, both bank holidays when nobody worked.

 

In recent years, the government took the "holiday status" from the All Saints Day and now we work normally on this day, but we still have a holiday on Nov 2 when people go to the cemeteries to visit the sepultures of their dead relatives - lol.

 

Some English Schools started celebrating halloween a few years ago and it´s getting bigger and bigger. These days we have horror movies on the TV and many halloween parties which grow every year. I see this as pure americanization. It has nothing to do with our culture, and we have better national traditions to celebrate. In a few cities with a german descendent population, Oct 31st is still remembered as Reform Day.

 

Yeah, but "All Saints Day" is just made up bullsh!t as well... The whole idea of having a festival at that particular time is something which is, yet again, stolen from Paganism, Celtic Paganism in this case. The original festival of Samhain which runs from Oct 31 - Nov 1 predates the Catholic "All Saints Day" by, oooh, let's see, appox a thousand years or so.... So, Americanization or Christianisation.... What's the diff..? It's the same artificial bullsh!t which robs the real meaning of the original festival....

I went to a fancy dress party and it was cool. ^_^

Yeah, but "All Saints Day" is just made up bullsh!t as well... The whole idea of having a festival at that particular time is something which is, yet again, stolen from Paganism, Celtic Paganism in this case. The original festival of Samhain which runs from Oct 31 - Nov 1 predates the Catholic "All Saints Day" by, oooh, let's see, appox a thousand years or so.... So, Americanization or Christianisation.... What's the diff..? It's the same artificial bullsh!t which robs the real meaning of the original festival....

 

I agree, but it happens that nobody these days believe in Samhain or whatever celtic God, and what would be the purpouse of having a holiday to celebrate a God which is believed by less then 0.01% of the population...