How do Italians celebrate Halloween? Interesting places to discover

Halloween is an Anglo-Saxon festival, but traditions involving the dead and their celebration are widespread throughout the world. One of the most famous is the Mexican Day of the Dead.

In Italy too there are regional traditions that are equally deep-rooted and diverse regarding the celebration of the dead. Let’s take a look at the traditional festivals in Italy, typical of the period from Halloween to All Saints’ Day, and the places they’re linked to.

Where to go on Halloween in Italy

Here is a selection of places in Italy with ancient traditions that take place to commemorate the dead and in the days leading up to it:

The South and the Islands

• Su mortu mortu: Sardinia is one of the Italian regions with the richest folkloric traditions, and this one in particular is quite similar to the classic ‘trick or treat’; on this day children go door to door asking for sweets or offerings with little lanterns.
• The Fairs of the Dead: in Sicily these fairs are organised, where a large quantity of sugar puppets, biscuits in the shape of bones, etc. are sold. Tradition has it that the souls of the deceased, or morticeddi, bring sweets to the children.
• The Night of the Fucacoste: in Orsara, in the province of Foggia, in Apulia, on the night between 1st and 2nd November this celebration is held, during which the whole town is full of bonfires and carved pumpkins, which are supposed to help the souls of the dead find their way back home;
• Parades and banquets: in Calabria, until a few decades ago, parades were organised in the streets and real cemetery banquets were held in honour of the dead.
• Torrone dei Morti (nougat of the dead): in almost all of Campania, but particularly in Naples, this particular type of nougat is prepared and called ‘Torrone dei Morti’. The sweet is eaten in the period between October and November and its shape, they say, is to remind one of a coffin.

Central Italy

• The candles of Abruzzo: between Sulmona and L’Aquila, in the Peligna valley, it was customary in the villages to keep a candle lit outside people’s homes during All Saints’ Night, thus paying tribute to the deceased who would go on a procession through the village streets.
• Ben d’i morti: during this particular Tuscan tradition, in the province of Massa Carrara, food was collected to be given to the poorest people.

The North

• Carità di murt: in Emilia Romagna there is a very similar tradition, in fact on 1st November the poor wandered the streets of the city asking for food, which was given to them so that the souls of the deceased would not be disturbed by social injustices.
• Pan di mort: in Lombardy there is a tradition very similar to the Neapolitan one, where in fact this particular Milanese cake is prepared to commemorate the deceased.
• Banquets and bonfires: in the Aosta Valley, on the last night of the year, bonfires are lit in the city streets and tables are set with great care, left especially for the souls of the deceased.

Article translated by Jasmina Towers

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