Halloween is an ancient celebration deriving from a mixture of pagan ideas, folklore and religion.

It originally began with the Celts and their celebration of the end of the Celtic year on November 1st. This date marked the end of their season of the sun and the disappearance of the sun god whom they workshipped as winter began. By lighting cooking fires in their homes, the ancient Celts hoped to keep the good luck symbolised by the spirit of the light with them through the winter months.

When the Romans invaded Britain in the first century, they brought with them the festival known as Pomona Day, named after their goddess of fruits and gardens. This is where the tradition of eating toffee apples on Halloween comes from.

When the Christian religion spread through Europe and Britain, November 1st became a church holiday to honour all the saints, known as All Saints Day. On the eve of this day, people celebrated with big bonfires and parades and dressed up as a saints, angels and devils to honour the dead.

Today, all these influences have merged into what we know as Halloween when many people have parties, and play Halloween games, such as dunking for apples. The aim of the game is to remove an apple from a basin of water whilst keeping your hands behind your back, so you can only use your teeth - it´s more difficult than it sounds!

Halloween is also a very popular day in America. Children dress up as witches and ghosts and go "trick or treating". They call at their neighbours homes and ask for a treat, such as sweets or toffee apples - if no treat is given the children will play a mischievous trick!