Polish Tradition?
Ghosts, vampires and skeletons were having fun all over the city. A few years ago Halloween evoked extreme opinions – the advocates of the Polish tradition perceived it as profanation of All Saints Day. Today it is popular and night parties do not interfere with celebrating the Polish tradition. “These two holidays do not rule out each other,” says Filip, an artist who went to a Saturday party in Warsaw. Halloween costumes were not obligatory but those who dressed up, got a discount at the entrance. Although it is cheap to buy a werewolf mask, Joanna prepared her own zombie make-up, which took her two hours to make. Some people decided not to dress up. “I have a great Halloween Red Riding Hood costume, but I did not put it on tonight. I thought that not many people would be dressed up,” said Bianca from London, whose eye was bleeding. The next day, those same club-goers went to visit cemeteries in their casual clothes. “I do not have any family members buried in Warsaw, but I want to visit my favourite writer’s grave. I do it every year,” says Jacek Meler, who also partied on Saturday. Warsaw citizens treat Halloween as a fancy-dress ball. However, the trick-or-treat tradition has not caught on in Poland. American children walk around their neighbourhoods collecting sweets; Polish children stay in bed. “I did not prepare any sweets and nobody knocked at my door anyway,” says Helena. “My children and I celebrate the traditional Polish holiday, not some monsters. It has always been like this and we will stick to it.”
Gazeta Wyborcza
