Until recently, Halloween in Slovakia was never practiced. In contrast to the secular celebration of Halloween, Slovaks have traditionally emphasized the spirituality of this time of year, and use the religious holy days of All Saints Day and All Souls Day to reconnect with their ancestors. Visits to cemeteries after Halloween have a religious spirituality and are in no way connected to the spooks and witches.
Since the fall of communism in 1989, foreigners, expatriates, and a few young Slovaks have begun to incorporate some of the spooky customs and costume dressing that Americans are more familiar with. But the celebrations occur mainly in some of the larger cities like Bratislava, and not in the smaller towns and villages.
Contrasting Customs
When Slovaks visit the United States today, they are surprised at how we celebrate Halloween and the days afterward. Americans tend to associate “Trick or Treat” (in Slovak, trik alebo maškrta?) with this time of year.
On a visit to the USA, Kristína Havasová of Slovakia was shocked to find that instead of solemnly praying for the dead, Americans turned the holiday into time to collect candy and celebrate autumn. Americans carve pumpkins (vyrezávat tekvice), decorate homes and yards with witches, demons, zombies, vampires, bats, monsters, black cats, graveyards, and signs saying phrases like "Happy Halloween" or "Trick or Treat." Havasová wrote, that “while Slovaks went to visit the dead in the cemeteries, the American dead came to visit the living.”
While All Saints and All Souls Days are Christian traditions, Halloween derives from pagan traditions from the ancient Celts of Ireland. Those customs of dressing in costumes came to the USA with Irish immigrants in the 19th century. Since World War II, the gory side of Halloween has steadily gained more of a following, and since the 1960s, much of the fun dissipated when some morbid derelicts started putting razor blades in apples and terrorizing children.
In Slovakia, the religious side of the feasts still tends to predominate, especially in the villages and small towns. In larger cities like Bratislava, where many expatriates and foreigners reside, revelers celebrate Halloween at the pubs in a more secular fashion. Havasová wrote that in 2002, pub employees wore masks and encouraged customers to come in costumes. The bar (krcma) served spooky drinks, such as Bloody Marys, voodoo cocktails, and bosorkiné prsia (witch breasts). One bar it even staged a show of costumed women posing as eight dancing witches. Several other pubs held similar events on Halloween. The Irish Pub, for instance, typically hosts a Halloween party.
Likewise in 2010, the Elam Club in Bratislava, a diskotek which attracts university students, hosted a Halloween party on October 26. It invited people to come in and “see the horrors” and “dance at a splendid party full of ghosts.”
An increased presence of foreign soldiers since Slovakia’a accession into NATO in 2004 has led to further Halloween parties staged by foreigners. When some U.S. marines decided to stage a bash in the Koliba section of Bratislava in 2009, they invited soldiers and their families to attend. An article mentioned that one store in Bratislava had over 2,000 costumes to choose from! On their way to the party, they also did see a few other people in costume. So the idea of dressing up is gradually spreading due to the presence of more and foreigners.
In conclusion, Halloween is generally not considered a Slovak holiday, and there is no trick or treating for children. Rather Halloween is an event that some foreigners, expatriates, and a few Slovak youths celebrate as an excuse to party.
SOURCES
"Expat Life in Slovakia." October 27, 2010. (accessed October 27, 2010).
"Kalendár akcii: Oficíalne stránky pre navštevníkov Bratislavy." October 26, 2010. (accessed October 26, 2010).
Kristína Havasová, “Halloween 'BOOOO' or cemetery visits?” Slovak Spectator, October 28, 2002. (accessed October 15, 2008).
"Tripadvisor." October 26, 2010. (accessed October 26, 2010).
" Vysokoškolský klub ELAM." October 26, 2010. (accessed October 26, 2010).
Michael Kopanic - Dr. Michael J. Kopanic, Jr. is an historian specializing in European and U.S. Immigration history. He has published extensively in his ...
