Halloween or Andrzejki - which is more popular in Poland?

Which are more widely celebrated in Poland: Halloween or Andrzejki?
At home, schools, community centres, pubs, clubs, restaurants?

Widely celebrated is Andrzejki occasion, maybe thanks to school education. There are lots of home parties, discos as well. Haloween is becoming more and more popular with every year, but does not have so strong cultural base as Andrzejki. There are lots of pumpkin decoration in restaurants and the menu is suited to the occasion. You can meet with lots of dark Halloween parties at homes and in city pubs.

Merged: Halloween costumes for rent in Warsaw

Hi,

Where can I find Halloween costumes for rent in Warsaw? Are there any cheap stores and what would be the price for renting?

I could only find this shop, which includes Halloween costumes to rent:-

aladyn.waw.pl/eng/

I think Halloween has become international. I know that when I lived in Germany, people would tell me that Halloween did not exist there. However for Martinmas, I remembered seeing in Northern Germany so-called "Laternen gehen" where children accompanied by their parents would walk the streets singing and carrying lanterns in exchange for grown ups throwing sweets, small candies and such in their direction. Completely harmless, actually, and not scary at all:-)

Anything of the like in Poland?

No, Halloween has not become international! In Poland, it is kind of "celebrated" only among Anglo-saxon expat circles and few Poles hanging around them. If I recall right, the catholic Church are against it. For 99.99% Poles and Europeans, Halloween means nothing.

I would say Halloween is not that popular here but is growing in popularity. In Warsaw back in 2006 I remember they had a few Halloween decorations in the local supermarket. This year somebody has rented space in a local shopping centre and is selling quite elaborate stuff including costumes and the supermarket had a childrens' pumpkin decorating thingy on Saturday last. However I don't think it will ever really take off here. Firstly it has no cultural significance for Poles as it's the remains of an ancient festival from a distant culture and secondly the observance of All Saints on 1 November is far more significant for Poles - the two simply don't sit well together in the Polish tradition, the revels and festivities of modern Halloween celebrations are at odds with the solemn observances of the following day. Poles who've lived in Ireland may well carry on the tradition for their children who've started life there which is nice.

The Catholic church in Poland may be against it as InPolska says. I don't know. There's no problem with it in Ireland, I suppose because it's 'our' festival. Halloween only found its way to America because of Irish immigrants keeping up the old traditions. They used pumpkins because they didn't have turnips to make the lanterns for example. Incidentally there is no tradition of trick or treating in Ireland. Children dress up certainly and they call to the house and say 'Help the Halloween party' and you give them a few sweeties and off they go to the bonfire. They never play tricks in my experience though sadly the phrase 'trick or treat' is now sometimes used instead of the traditional 'help the party'. Most of the girls tend to dress a princess, a fairy or a 'good' witch. Boys in my class at school over the years have been everything and anything from Bart Simpson and Darth Vader, to racing driver Michael Schumacher! Sometimes they go for Dracula or a skeleton but they're just as likely to pick a superhero.

A few bits and piece of Halloweenalia can be found here and there, but there's no widespread popularity or any signs that it will become more popular.

In terms of American Halloween (my favorite holiday as a child) helicopter parents seemed to have ruined it for kids, going around in the day and hovering over their poor offspring every second. When I was a kid there is no way we'd trick or treat in the day or allow our parents to be too close.

Yes, it had to be after dark, that was the main part of the fun and excitement. In Ireland nowadays in the urban areas parents accompany very young children, say the under sevens but they usually remain in a group at a safe distance so the kids still have some sense of independence. However where a bonfire and fireworks are concerned I do think it's necessary to have adults around.

With the exception of this year, I have been in Poland for the last 3 Halloweens, and I can't say I noticed anyone dressed up in costumes. Certainly not along the lines of the UK anyway. I really don't think it's that popular at all, and to be honest most Poles would be far more concerned with All Saint's Day preparations than Halloween.

If you go out in the city centre (Warsaw anyway) there's plenty going on at Halloween in the bars.

Where I'm from, we have neither Halloween nor Andrjejki but Mischievous Night. Something that would not catch on in Poland...

[Moved from]: Halloween Poland

I might as well put on the Kaczynski mask and go out and enjoy the pub fun. After all, I love my normal earning routine of 7 days a week, as the dog loves to eat, but this religious "holiday" puts the kybosh on that. Thank you Lord that it's a short break this year. Amen.

How many more "free days" and "long weekends" will be created now that PIS are running the show? They surely will want to reduce earning potential wherever they see the opportunity. I tremble that for us workers it is going to be more bad news and restraint of trade.

What are folks here planning for Halloween?

(Sorry Mods - please merge LOL - How would I know there's already a thread? )


Nonsense InPolska. You don't go to pubs or clubs I see:)

@Doug: as you say, in pubs and bars, mostly those for expats ;). I maintain that most Poles are not concerned. I know for instance asking several Polish kids attending Polish schools that at school they do nothing for Halloween. Inspite of what Anglo-saxon expats would like, Halloween is not celebrated in neither Poland and nor in continental Europe. A few bars and pubs don't even represent 0.1% of total population and if I recall right, the Catholic Church is against that paigan holiday ;)

@Doug: for instance, now, quite a few bars/restaurants in Poland "celebrate" Beaujolais Nouveau (3rd thursday in November) and even "Galette des Rois" or "July 14th" (in Saska Kępa, they even have events held whole day on ul. Francuska on 14.7) but I would NOT say that these events are normally celebrated in Poland ;). They are just anecdotic, just like is Halloween, which may be celebrated by a few hundreds of Poles ;). Such foreign events are celebrated by expats and very few Poles who gather around them. Don't confuse tiny minorities with whole or majorities ;)

I think it happens often that they want to, or, for example, English teachers want to organize something like this, but the school principal disagrees.

The case is that Halloween is just a day before the All Saints' Day, which is a holiday of a totally different character. These two holidays somehow doesn't fit to each other. All Saints' Day isn't supposed to be fun, it's a day of reminding about those who have passed away. For some people it's just pain in the ass, they don't like it, and when they are able to, they ban it.

What is interesting here, that Slavs in the pre-Christian times also used to have something like Halloween (called Dziady), and the All Saints' Day has simply replaced that. As far as I know, it used to be still celebrated in some village areas, especially in the eastern Poland, in the XVIII, maybe even XIX century. In Mickiewicz's times (the most important Polish poet of the romanticism era, and, according to a lot of people, the most important one at all - he liked to come back to such old-Slavic customs or legends), so in the XIX century, it was disappearing, but there were places where it still existed.