WHITEWATER REGION (Cobden) — Once a year, a holiday in Canada on October 31 is celebrated with parties, jack-o’-lanterns, scary movies and trick-or-treating.
Halloween is a day to mark the single night of the year when, according to older Celtic beliefs, spirits and the dead are able to cross in to the world of the living. To begin next week’s annual holiday, the local community has many events planned.
On Saturday, October 26 there is the Halloween Fall Festival at Cobden Municipal Park on Highway 17 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., hosted by the Cobden Recreation Association.
There is a Halloween Costume Party beginning at 8:00 p.m. at the Simple Men Motorcycle Club’s Clubhouse, 2029 Foresters Falls Rd. in Foresters Falls, hosted by the Simple Men Motorcycle Club.
Lastly on Saturday, there is the Annual Halloween Dance at the Cobden Agricultural Hall, 43 Astrolabe Rd. in Cobden, starting at 9:00 p.m.
On Sunday, October 27 there is a Children’s Halloween Party being held at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 550, 43A Main St., in Cobden from 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Also happening this weekend in Whitewater Region is the Catch the Ace draw tomorrow at 7:30 p.m., the Muskrat Watershed Council is tree planting on Saturday at Muskrat Lake and the Whitewater Kings take on Ottawa West at the Cobden Arena, which starts at 7:30 p.m. Sunday is the Breakfast Buffet at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 550 in Cobden.
Halloween marked it’s beginning as the festival of Samhain, which was a part of the ancient Celtic religion in Britain and other parts of Europe.
At the end of the summer, the Celtics believed the barrier between “our world” and “the world of ghosts and spirits” became extremely thin.
This was believed to mean weird creatures with strange powers were able to wander the Earth. The Celtics had a big party with the purpose of scaring away the ghosts and spirits.
Later, with the rise of the Christian religion, the day became known as All Hallows’ Eve. This is the day before All Saints’ Day, which is on November 1.
