Do they celebrate Halloween in Norway?
Me: Have you decorated for Halloween this year?
My colleague: I’m not sure yet! My neighbour has already put the Christmas light up!
That kind of sums up the answer!
Halloween, which is believed to originate from Ireland, is now adopted and celebrated by many countries. Norway has also picked up the trend…very slowly. It’s not fully celebrated here as you may have imagined.
First, it depends pretty much on where you live.
Second, it depends pretty much on where you live.
What I have perceived over the years here, it’s the festival for kids. The Halloween events or happening here are for kids and I mean ‘kids’, 7-13 years old. Parties for adults go on like any regular weekend and many people couldn’t care less. There might be some decorations, but not as exciting as in the countries that properly celebrate it.
If you live in a big city where your neighbours decide to celebrate Halloween, you might get some vibes. Kids will knock on your doors and you might have to stock some candies for the all-night-long trick or treat. If you have a kid, there might be an event or two arranged by a church or the municipality near you as well.
However, if you live further away from the city like where I live, you might have seen ‘julestjerne’ (Chritsmas star lamp) hanging in the windows already.
I can remember my first year when I moved here. I and a couple of acquaintances from the Norwegian class decided that we would dress up and hit a party in Oslo. Some did scary makeup and some had costumes on.
We took the train, tolerated the stares and safely arrived at the nightclub, written on the sign in front, ‘Halloween dress-up/makeup pays only 150kr’ (instead of 200kr). We went in and there it was…no one!
Are you familiar with that movie scenes when you fully dress up and no one else does?!
That was in Oslo! I was shook. lol
The other year, I stayed at home and there were like three groups of kids knocked on my door. That’s it. That’s not surprising at all as, in my street, there are around three houses with young kids.
In my opinion, Halloween is not a big thing here. It’s very rare to see Halloween decorations, nor the pumpkin. (Well, they’re quite pricy, so it’s totally understandable.)
People party separately, like Thai people party with Thai people and Polish with Polish. I’m sure as well that other youngsters would have a house party somewhere where they party with full makeup or costume. Guess I would never know…like it’s easy to make friends here.
Anyway, I am certain that, if we want to, we can enjoy Halloween wherever you are! So, I’ll still do the makeup, buy sh*t loads of candy (and maybe a bottle of wine), and enjoy my Halloween’s ‘kos’!