Off We Go a Haunting! Spooky Halloween Traditions around the World

With Ghostly greetings this Halloween….Boo to you from our crew!

The countdown to Halloween is on, and whether you plan on spending the holiday giving out candy to trick-or-treaters, going out for a night of frightful fun, or staying in to hand out candy to the neighborhood kids, you’re sure to get into the spirit of the season. There’s just something about this time of year that makes us all feel a little bit more festive and maybe even a little bit spooky.

Halloween is the perfect opportunity to get creepily creative! Halloween Days Unitil is celebrated in many parts of the world, and even college students take it seriously. Here are some of the unique and amazing Halloween traditions at universities from around the world.

Penn’s State Pumpkin Festival

Each year, Penn State Outreach’s Arboretum hosts the Pumpkin Festival as one of the most popular on-campus Halloween traditions. The event is usually sponsored by local businesses or the family of an attending student, and it includes family-friendly activities, pumpkin giveaways, and evening illumination displays. The real star of the show, though, is the pumpkin-carving contest. 

So, carve out some good times!

Georgetown’s Healy Howl Festival

Georgetown University’s Annual Halloween tradition of watching “The Exorcist” movie on October 31st near Healy Hall is definitely one for the books! 

Welcoming you to the Nightmare!

The movie, which is set to end before midnight, is played for students gathered around the Jesuit Cemetery. It’s said that the howls emitted by everyone at the end of the movie can be heard for miles around the campus. As legend has it, alumnus William Peter Blatty directed the entire film with this very same tradition in mind. 

Massachusetts’s Annual Pumpkin Drop Festival

Be cautious the pumpkin is here!

Halloween is a time for fun and excitement, and that’s exactly what the annual pumpkin drop at MIT is all about. Every year, trick-or-treaters bring pumpkins to the top of the 295tf tall EAPS Green Building and drop them off the side. The pumpkins then splatter at the feet of the crowds below, much to their delight. But that’s not all – the students also freeze their pumpkins so that they explode with a WHAM! when they hit the ground. 

Yale University’s Halloween Concert

Yale University is one of the most prestigious research universities in the United States of America. Owing to their strong belief in upholding tradition, they have Halloween-themed desserts and snacks. Amongst the popular Halloween traditions at universities across the US, Yale’s stand-out event is their YSO Halloween Show performed by the Yale Symphony Orchestra (YSO). 

So please park your brooms at the door!

The YSO plays a live soundtrack of assorted genres of music to accompany a silent movie filmed by the YSO students. Tickets for the show are sold out within a few minutes after they go on sale as this is the second most-attended event of the year at Yale.

University of California’s All-Hill Halloween Festival

This is one of the most adorable Halloween traditions at universities around the world. UCLA is especially well-known for its amazing higher education programs and its yearly social charity events to collect funds for underprivileged children. Every year on Halloween, elementary and middle school children from low-income backgrounds in the local LA area are brought together to the UCLA dorms for a safe and fun night of trick-or-treating. 

You can pass by for a bite!

The students dress up in costumes and hand out candy to all the children – it’s such a special event that everyone looks forward to. This tradition is done so that the children don’t miss out on the excitement of Halloween. This event offers a safe space for the kids to enjoy as it isn’t safe to do so in their own neighborhood. Giving back and Social Charity play a major role at UCLA, so they do their best to incorporate safety and fun together.

So, we hope that this blog gave you some insight into how different universities around the world celebrate Halloween with watchful thinking. What are you and your friends planning to do for Halloween this year?

Also, we’re having a monster sale on student accommodation, so don’t miss out! Book your accommodation today with University Living.