Although Halloween has been talked about for months (some echoes even resonate almost in summer...), the truth is that the celebration of the most chilling night of the year is not until next Friday. We travel to the country where it originated as the first plan for upcoming getaways.
The biggest Halloween festival in Europe
Many may not know, but the origin of Halloween is not in the United States, but in Ireland and the Celts. It was these who climbed the hills that dot the country on the night of October 31 to November 1 to celebrate a ritual called Samhain that welcomed the "dark season." The druids' goal was to ask the gods for a good harvest and ward off evil spirits, for which they disguised themselves as beasts, headless horsemen, and disfigured monsters amid spells and bonfires. The emigration to the United States of many Irish people transferred the celebration across the pond, where it was adapted under the motto "trick or treat?"
However, the tradition continues on the Emerald Isle more than 2,000 years later in the city of Derry-Londonderry, in Northern Ireland, where from October 28 to 31, the biggest Halloween festival in Europe dedicated to the most terrifying date of the year is celebrated, also being the number 1 destination in the world to experience the night of the dead. These days, those malevolent creatures of yore roam the streets around the ancient walled city, an icon of the city, amid countless parades, plays, circus shows, culinary displays, and concerts in honor of the deceased. More information at www.tourismireland.com