Cosa fare durante la festività Ognissanti in Italia: divertimento da brivido con i bambini!

Fortresses and manor houses are among the most beautiful locations in which to spend the Halloween holiday. There is no shortage of opportunities in Italy, for example among the residences of the Castles of the Duchy circuit in Parma, Piacenza and Pontremoli, where a series of frighteningly special events are organised! Some reserved for adults, such as murder mystery dinners, animated stories, candlelit tours, escape rooms; others designed especially for families.

For example, the Castle of Varano De' Melegrani, hosts an unusual "Catch the Ghost", while at the Castle of Contignaco there is the hilarious "Halloween Treasure Hunt". Magical workshops take place at Tabiano Castle: children can bake spooky muffins, create a Hogwarts letter and decorate a pumpkin. Instead, at the Rocca Viscontea in Castell'Arquato there is a visit with entertainment.

The Sanvitale Fortress of Fontanellato comes alive with the magic and illusionism show "Halloween Family Show", while brave children and parents cannot miss "Horror Castle", a themed trail at the Fortress of the Reds. At Rivalta Castle there is "Baby Halloween", where little detectives are called upon to solve the mystery of a mischievous ghost.

Dimly lit alleys, bonfires piercing the gloomy autumn night, gloomy decorations and greedy ghosts searching for sweets, knocking on every door. The villages of Italy are always beautiful, but when 31 October approaches, they turn into evocative places where traditions and legends come alive again.

It may be due to the blurring of the line between the world of the living and that of the spirits, which characterises this period, but it really does seem as if the small historic centres come alive with enigmatic presences. Reinforcing the aura of mystery are once again the Halloween events, some of which have been among the most beautiful autumn events in Italy for years.

In Borgo a Mozzano, Tuscany, the "Halloween Festival" lasts for three days with interactive horror games, journeys into the supernatural, and a lively afternoon for children on 31 October.

We move again to Emilia Romagna, to Riolo Terme, where the famous Celtic New Year in Riolo takes place: Samhain (i.e. the ancient Celtic-pagan festival, celebrated between 31 October and 1 November) is very popular here and fascinates young and old alike, especially during the grand final show at the fortress, with the burning of the demon and fireworks!

Even in Puglia, the rituals associated with All Saints' Eve have been well established since ancient times. In Orsara of Puglia, the sinister celebrations move to the dark night of 1 November and last for the whole week: "Fucacoste and Cocce Priatorje", encapsulates the best of autumn village festivals and traditions of the past. Propitiatory bonfires light up the night in the village, along whose richly decorated streets dark characters roam, while music and street performers entertain visitors. Of course there is also a lantern-carving workshop for children.

In the town of Gradara, Capital of the Middle Ages, there are four days dedicated to Halloween celebrations, but the highlight is on 31 October with an amazing Horror Show starring the Addams Family! And then there is the phantasmagorical theatre show for children, "In Teatrino con il fantasmino", the animated visit to the village "Paolo, Francesca tra storia e leggenda" and the "Borgo Sinistro," a theatrical itinerary designed for families, together with truly unique characters.

The tradition of Halloween, the so-called Celtic New Year, is very old and has its roots in Northern European countries. For the Celts, the New Year began on 1 November, with the arrival of the cold, dark season.

All Hallows' Eve, was an occasion to celebrate this moment of passage, also through propitiatory rites linked to fire and the carving of anthropomorphically shaped turnips, inside which flames were placed to show the dead the way home. It was precisely at the time of Samhain that the boundary between earthly life and the world of the dead narrowed to nothing.

These traditions have travelled a long way to the United States, where turnips have been replaced by pumpkins and Celtic farming customs have undergone a transformation to become the carnival-like festival we all know.

And in Italy? In our country, Halloween is much more than just a festival. It is capable of combining archaic rituals and folk beliefs, which have come down to us from rural tradition, with the theatrical and frightening contaminations that uniquely characterise this event!