PHILIPPINE ALL SAINTS DAY AND ALL SOULS DAY CELEBRATION

Filipinos mark the celebration of All Saints Day and All Souls Day on the 1st and 2nd day of November every year. But how do we celebrate these days?

There isn’t much difference in the celebration of these 2 days in our culture. The government declares these days as national holidays. October 31st is usually a non-working holiday.

To most Filipinos, this is a time for families to come together and remember their departed loved ones. Family members who live or work in the cities make it a point to travel back to their provinces to visit the graves of the departed and spend time with their relatives. Because of this, massive traffic is created in the national highways, airports are packed with travelers and airlines packed.

Around a week before All Saints Day and All Souls Day arrives, Filipinos busy themselves in preparing for these important dates. Graves are usually cleaned, re-painted, weeds pulled out and generally tidied. This is in preparation for the arrival of the deceased’s family members. There is a hustle and bustle all around of people trying to purchase flowers and wreaths and candles as well. Families also go shopping for food.

Why, do you say, is this? This is where the peculiarity of our All Saints Day tradition comes in. During the day of the visit to the cemeteries, each family is expected to bring food with them on a potluck basis. They put up make-shift tents, bring plastic tables and chairs and mats at the cemeteries near the grave of their deceased relatives and start a family picnic. These Filipino gathering usually start with candle-lighting, flower-offering, prayers for the deceased and an all-night long vigil at the grave. Richer families who own mausoleums bring folding beds with them to spend the night on. Families reminisce the life of their departed loved ones, share stories, eat and joke around to the dawn of the next day. Candles burn all night; some members of the family play cards, some listen to radios and youngsters play around with each other and also have fun collecting melted candles all around. There are food stores on all corners where youngsters can buy stuff like ice cream and sweets. Teenagers roam around looking for their friends visiting other graves and some uses this opportunity to meet other people. It’s true, the cemeteries in the Philippines “come to life” in these 2 days.

The next day, families can be seen packing up their stuff, say goodbye to relatives they spent the night with and offer another prayer to the graves of their departed. From this time on, they resume their normal daily routine and work.

PHILIPPINE HALLOWEEN PARTY AND TRICK-OR-TREATING

Halloween (October 31st) was not traditionally celebrated by Filipinos in the past. But in the past few years, more and more Filipinos are starting to adopt the western tradition of trick-or-treating where children dresses themselves in cute costumes and knock on peoples door to ask for treats/sweets. This is prevalent in average to above-average communities in Manila these days. Some malls these days also hold Halloween parties for kiddies and trick-or-treating is done in the shops. Generally speaking, however, this is not practiced in rural areas in the province.

Since October 31st is usually a non-working holiday, yuppies and teenagers go to the bar and attend Halloween concerts.