Halloween in Argentina

During the last years, more and more people are starting celebrating Halloween in our country. Every year, many shop windows, shops, English institutes, and even some schools’ classrooms are decorated with elements related to this pagan celebration, such as: spider webs, ghosts, bats, and Jack-o’-lanterns, among others. 

Every October 31^st it is more common to see many groups of children wearing scary costumes, and going from house to house asking for sweets. In live broadcast, many TV news show images of the streets full of children playing the famous and traditional “trick-or-treat”. 

Each year, this topic sparks interest in many Argentine people, creating lively debates in which they share their opinions of agreement or disagreement in relation to this issue. 

The arguments are varied and clearly divided. Those who are against of celebrating Halloween claim that:

- We shouldn’t celebrate a festival which is not part of our culture and traditions;

- Halloween is another “Yankee” celebration whose only aim is to make us spend a lot of money;

- We should encourage our children to become more interested in our own traditions rather than in other cultures’ customs;

- We don’t know the real meaning of Halloween, which results in a mere imitation of others’ festivals;

- Halloween is a satanic celebration, and children should not be encouraged to participate in this sort of cults. 

Despite these arguments against the celebration of Halloween in Argentina, many people believe that:

- We are free to celebrate whatever we want;

- Argentina is a country made of immigrants from different parts of the world who have the right to commemorate their important dates;

- If we shouldn’t celebrate Halloween because it is not part of our culture, we shouldn’t celebrate neither Christmas nor Valentine’s Day, or any other festivity that was not created by our ancestors;

- We should be more open to the changes that are taking place in our culture;

- We do celebrate many other festivals (such as Oktoberfest, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, among others) which are not part of our traditions, but people only complain about Halloween. 

Of course, there are many more arguments in favour and against this issue, but these are the most common ones.

Even though I do not celebrate Halloween because I do not know its meaning and origin, I cannot tell others what they should do or not. I think that all of us have the right to choose what to believe in, without being condemned.

I agree with the fact that Argentina is a country “made of” a mixture of cultures from different parts of the world: Italy, Spain, Portugal, China, Germany, Ireland, and others. What is more, there are many different religious groups in our country, which have their own believes, cults and customs: Catholics, Jews, Gypsies, Mormons, etc. Due to this, I hold that we must accept and respect other people’s customs and believes. If there are people who want to be part in this particular festival, we should respect that, as well as those who do not take part in Halloween because it is not what they believe in.

So, what do you think? Should we celebrate Halloween? 

Image #1 retrieved from: http://www.minutouno.com/notas/342526-por-que-los-argentinos-no-debemos-festejar-halloween

Images #2 & #3 retrieved from  some comments people make on different Halloween's posts.