I love Halloween. Whether it's my Celt roots (Halloween being a combination of the Celtic Samhain, pronounced Sa’ween, and the Christian holiday All Hallows Eve), the excuse to wear fancy dress or all the chocolates and sweets on offer, I’m a big fan of the day and looking forward to having some fun with family and friends next week.

The Celts, the people who lived in England before the Romans came here, had many traditional ways of celebrating Samhain.

Once the Romans established themselves, the Celts were mostly pushed out to the edges of the British Isles and into areas such as Cornwall, Wales, Scotland and of course Ireland, where they integrated with the local people and kept a lot of their traditional celebrations.

The one I find most interesting was the act of making extra meals for dead relatives and inviting them to join in celebrations. They would tell stories about loved ones who had passed on and use it as a time to remember them.

Like with most Pagan/Celt celebrations there would also be bonfires, mainly for protection from unwanted spirits. And as always, a great feast!

This coming together of different cultures and traditions is not unique to these shores.

For example the Mexican Day of the Dead festival brings together the Aztec tradition of celebrating their ancestors with the Spanish Catholicism practice of celebrating All Souls Day, making it difficult to distinguish between indigenous, colonial and religious elements – but nevertheless creating a tradition recognised by UNESCO as an example of intangible cultural heritage of global importance.

Larry Crofton with a pumpkin (Image: Hatfield Town Council) Closer to home I was surprised how old trick or treating is, with some historians identifying similar practices dating back to the Middle Ages in England.

People would dress up, go house to house, or parish to parish, perform songs and dances (and even threaten tricks) all in exchange for fruits and blessings.

And we can go further back. The area we now know as Hatfield was dominated by a Celt tribe called The Catuvellauni (in 1965 a Celtic grave was uncovered in Black Fan Road in Welwyn Garden City, that dated back over 2,000 years).

It's amazing to think that this very area would have been home to ancient traditions we still celebrate today.

And with the nights drawing in, it's important that we keep these traditions going to keep our collective community spirits up.

It is important we come together as a community to have fun and celebrate together. And so if the annual ghoulfest is a bit to dark for your taste, why not pop along to Hatfield Town Centre on Saturday, October 26, where the Indian Cultural Association of Hertfordshire will be holding their Divawli Dhamak celebrations.

You don’t have to be religious to join in and enjoy the food stalls, henna stations, dance performances and music. In fact you are positively welcomed and, if last year’s event was anything to go by, you won’t be disappointed.

Explore Hatfield

With half term coming up, it is not a surprise there are a variety of Halloween events coming to Hatfield. Hatfield House are hosting a Witches & Wizards Week between October 26 and November 3.

H’Arts in Mind are hosting free Halloween arts and crafts workshops at the Galleria, between October 28 and November 1, in addition to a Halloween swap shop which will allow families to donate their old costumes and pick a new one for free.

And of course the FunZone in Birchwood will be hosting it’s Spooktacular Halloween Party on October 30, with Laser Tag taster sessions available from 7pm.

See www.funzonehatfield.co.uk for more details.