GREAT HALLOWEEN LANTERN PARADE - Eureka!

Halloween is an annual holiday celebrated on October 31. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holy day of All Saints. It is largely a secular celebration but some have expressed strong feelings about perceived religious overtones.

Halloween has origins in an ancient Celtic festival, which was called Samhain by the Gaels of Ireland and Scotland. This is derived from Old Irish and means roughly summers end. A similar festival was held by the ancient Britons and is known as Calan Gaeaf.

The festival of Samhain celebrates the end of the lighter half of the year and beginning of the darker half, and is sometimes regarded as the "Celtic New Year".

The celebration has some elements of a festival of the dead. The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Otherworld became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through.

The term Halloween, originally spelled Halloween, is shortened from All Hallows Even - shortening of evening. It is now known as Eve of All Saints Day, which is November 1st.

The colours black and orange have become associated with the celebrations, perhaps because of the darkness of night and the colour of fire or of pumpkins, and maybe because of the vivid contrast this presents for merchandising. Another association is with the jack-o-lantern. Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes and attending costume parties, ghost tours, bonfires, visiting haunted attractions, pranks, telling scary stories, and watching horror films.


Trick-or-treating

Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. Children go in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy or sometimes money, with the question, Trick or treat? The word trick refers to a (mostly idle) threat to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given.


Costumes

Halloween costumes are traditionally those of monsters such as ghosts, skeletons, witches, and devils. They are said to be used to scare off demons. Costumes are also based on themes other than traditional horror, such as those of characters from television shows, movies, and other pop culture icons.

Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF has become a common sight during Halloween in North America.

Haunted attractions

Haunted attractions are entertainment venues designed to thrill and scare patrons; most are seasonal Halloween businesses. Origins of these paid scare venues are difficult to pinpoint, but it is generally accepted that they were first commonly used by the Junior Chamber International (Jaycees) for fundraising. They include haunted houses, corn mazes, and hayrides, and the level of sophistication of the effects has risen as the industry has grown.


Foods

Because the holiday comes in the wake of the annual apple harvest, candy apples (known as toffee apples outside North America), caramel or taffy apples are a common Halloween treat made by rolling whole apples in a sticky sugar syrup, sometimes followed by rolling them in nuts.

Directed by Nana Projects and produced by Creative Alliance with Friends of Patterson Park and Southeast CDC.

The annual event attracts thousands of costumed marchers every year. The event has several components, inlcuding:

* The Magic Lantern Show show - Nana Projects mines E.A.Poes surreal poem Eureka for magical imagery in this live, monumental, projected fairy tale.
* The Haunted Hamlet - The first-ever pre-parade party. Hay rides, hot cider, last minute lantern making, spooky storytelling, great food and live music. From 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
* The parade - winds through Patterson Park. Featuring more than 1,200 lanterns, whimsical floats, the Bone Band, and more.

Halloween Lantern Parade

When: Saturday 7:00 p.m. (marchers;) 7:30 p.m. (watchers)
Where: Patterson Park, Linwood and Eastern avenues.
Registration: None is required. Just show up.
Fee: Free.

Jack-o-lantern
A natural Halloween decoration in Muir Woods National Monument
In front of "haunted house" during Halloween season, Northern California.

In this Halloween greeting card from 1904, divination is depicted: the young woman looking into a mirror in a darkened room hopes to catch a glimpse of the face of her future husband.

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>Title = Halloween Lantern Parade and Festival, Baltimore, MD, US - Video.
>Keywords = Great Halloween Lantern Parade Festival, Baltimore, MD, US, Patterson Park, Eastern Linwood Aves, spectacle Magic Show, Nana Projects, Eureka fest, hay rides, hot cider, making spooky, storytelling, 1200 paper lanterns, spangled stiltwalkers, constellation stars, ribbon rockets, whimsical floats, Bone Band, ourtripvideos, our, trip, videos, crlapindfrn, creative alliance (118)
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