October Traditions Around the World

It’s All Hallows Eve, also known as Halloween night, and you’re out trick or treating with 3 of your friends. As you end your treating fun, your friend decides to make you guys visit the local cemetery to see if they can summon zombies from the graves. But when you get there, you see dozens of people celebrating the first day of Diá de Muertos, also known as the day of the dead, the day the spirits of their deceased children return to the human world. However, these two famous October holidays are not the only ones in the season.

Diwali, a festival originating from India, is a colorful holiday full of rangoli, geometric floral patterns made by spreading colored powders into shapes on the floor, firecrackers/fireworks displays, feasts, and more. Diwali, which comes from the word ‘Deepavali’ meaning ‘a row of lights,’ is a holiday celebrated around October to November. However, the specific date revolves around the lunar calendar, which changes yearly. At NIS this year, Diwali will be celebrated by students on November 8th from 17:30 to 19:30.

Another holiday celebrated during this season is the mid-autumn festival, or ‘chun qiu jie’ in Chinese. It is celebrated yearly on the 15th of the 8th month of the year, around September to October. This is celebrated because the moon is believed to be at its biggest and brightest. Celebrators carry lanterns of different shapes to symbolize one’s path to prosperity and good fortune, as well as eat mooncakes, which are pastries.

Learning about holidays helps you gain an understanding of different cultures around the world. Even though Halloween may be the most famous, it is not the only holiday that is celebrated during the fall! October may have come to an end, but November and the upcoming months bring many more holidays for you to celebrate! 

Works Cited

Juarez, Bryant’s. “Person with Hand on Pumpkin on Head.” Pexels, 30 Oct. 2021, https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-with-hand-on-pumpkin-on-head-10154573/. Accessed 30 Oct. 2024.