Halloween is our second favourite family celebration next to Christmas

Halloween is our second favourite family celebration next to Christmas Getty

Halloween is now the second most popular family celebration to enjoy next to Christmas.

Forget Bonfire Night and Easter, we rate Halloween the top family occasion next to the festive season, and we're set to spend more than £100 each on parties!

A survey of 2,000 parents by Woolworths.co.uk found the average family spends £73 on food and decorations for parties throughout the year. But for Halloween we're averaging another £42 on costumes and trick or treat essentials.

More than one in three of us will be throwing a Halloween party this year, and the total amount spent on celebrations across Britain is now £280 million!

If you're heading out to trick or treat with your children this year, expect it to be busy, as two-thirds of children are expected to be out and about on Halloween evening, with a potential 24,900,000 doors being knocked on.

Are you celebrating Halloween in your household? We have everything (and we mean everything) to help you out. From how to carve a pumpkin to the best treats to serve and costumes to wear, find it all in our dedicated section.

Celebrity parents celebrating Halloween

Tags: celebrations, cost, family fun, family life, halloween, party

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riversidebooks

Halloween represents total victory for the USA inspired Marketing Geeks over British Common Sense. Our culture is trashed again by the softheads.

October 26 2011 at 3:10 PM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down Reply

lcdmartin

Second favourite? Also the second most over-commercialised! As with Christmas where there is little recognisable in the majority of aspects of the holiday as based on the Nativity story of the Bible, Halloween is all about letting your children go out and scare old people half to death by bashing on the door, demanding sweets or egging their home - in any other context would be seen as robbery, or wearing stupid costumes as an excuse to go out and get lashed. Few people - even fewer children - appreciate that Halloween is supposed to be a celebration of All Hallow's Eve, when the Pagans celebrated the banashing of evil spirits in the passing of the seasons. Little wonder proper, traditional, British and Christian holidays like St Goerge's Day and Whitsuntide are forgotten about; they can't be used to exploit many childrens' want-want attitude (not all; just the majority) and force their parents to cave in and buy into more once-a-year trash.

October 26 2011 at 2:46 PM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down Reply

daviesplug

HALLOWEEN ? Oh I thought the page was about KATIE PRICE, because I saw the witches face.........Silly me. I could have sworn she was on here somewhere today , having told the world and his wife and kidsof her latest" INFECTION".......Ewwwww. Wonder what that might be eh folks?

October 26 2011 at 10:26 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

kgfriar1176

It's just a commercial gimmick.

October 26 2011 at 7:51 AM Report abuse Permalink +5 rate up rate down Reply

2 replies to kgfriar1176's comment

Paul

So is Christmas and Easter.

October 26 2011 at 8:03 AM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down Reply

grahamgriz

No,its a real event dating back hundreds of years to pagan rituals. Its just some clever marketing that has made it essential for kids to go out in the 'best' costumes and adults to buy sweets etc for the trick or treaters and for everyone to go over the top, it must make millions. I think we have america to thank ( blame) with only 200 years of recordable history they have damn little to celebrate other than christmas, so they made a big thing of haloween, anyway, must go now i have a pumpkin to hollow out !!!!

October 26 2011 at 8:08 AM Report abuse Permalink +2 rate up rate down Reply

2 replies to grahamgriz's comment

THE MUMS ARE WORSE THAN THE KIDS.........I've seen them around our way actually accompanying the kids begging at doors ! My gate is tied up, so entry isn't possible after 3.p.m, generally when the nonsense starts. I don't believe in knocking on doors begging,especially when parents are condoning it. It's cheeky and intrusive.

October 26 2011 at 10:30 AM Report abuse Permalink +6 rate up rate down

It WAS a real event; now its just an overcommericialised excuse by merchandising companies to tell you you need to buy more useless rubbish to celebrate a holiday not even part of your faith - unless you are Pagan, in which case you would probably be as offended by the general treatment of Halloween as I am as a Christian at the commercialisation of Christmas

October 26 2011 at 2:48 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down