Locals happy to celebrate Halloween FNQ style
Trick-or-treating in the Douglas Shire
Are you searching for a way to get your freaky Frankenstein on? Or a chance to get some treats and play some tricks? Read on for frightful and ghoulish celebrations for Halloween in the Douglas Shire.
Although Halloween isn’t as big of a celebration in Australia, the popularity of Halloween continues to grow.
Here are some interesting facts about the Halloween celebrations in our country.
History of Halloween
While some Australians think of Halloween as an American celebration, it's actually based on a Celtic festival called Samhain, which was first celebrated more than 2000 years ago.
The Celts believed it was a time of transition, when the veil between this world and the next came down, and the spirits of all who had died that year moved on to the next life.
Today the ancient past and the twenty-first century come together at the annual Spirits of Meath Halloween Festival, where a re-enactment of the Celtic celebration kicks off with a torch lit procession through town.
How Halloween came to Australia
Halloween was brought to Australia by Irish immigrants in the 1800s.
The first official Halloween celebration in Australia took place in Castlemaine, Victoria, in October 1858.
Caledonian Societies across Australia held grand balls each year to mark Halloween in the 1850s.
Another remarkable fact is that in Australia, the kids' Halloween costumes tend to be skewed towards superheroes and princesses rather than scary characters that you commonly see in the US.
Halloween events
Get spooky at the Mossman library
It’s going to be a spooky Halloween celebration at the Mossman Library’s After School Party.
Children are invited to come along in their best costume and join in on some weird and wonderful fun.
Where: Mossman Library, Mill Street,
When: Monday, 31 October, 3.30pm
Bookings essential – Call 4099 9496
Tunnel of Terror
Meantime in neighbouring Cairns, make sure you prepare yourself to be scared in Redlynch’s Tunnel of Terror. Are you brave enough to enter?
Do you think you have what it takes to make it all the way through?
Get dressed in your scariest costume and come on down to Redlynch Valley Estates Tunnels that run underneath Mary Park Drive Bridge.
Where: Redlynch Valley Estate
When: Monday, 31 October, 8.30pm