When is Halloween 2019 and what day of the week will it fall on?

HALLOWEEN is full of pumpkins, sweets, spookiness and scary costumes.

But few know the real meaning behind the Celtic harvest festival - we delve into the history and tell you how you can celebrate this October.

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When is Halloween 2019?

Halloween annually falls on October 31, which this year is a Thursday.

It is also the day that the UK was supposed to officially leave the EU.

Halloween is held the day before All Saints’ Day, which is a Christian festival used to celebrate recognised saints.

The activities typically involve trick or treating, dressing up in fancy dress and carving pumpkins.

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Why is the date of Halloween significant?

The word Halloween comes from Hallowe’en, meaning “hallowed evening” or holy evening.

The word itself is a Scottish term for All Hallows Eve - the evening before All Saints' Day.

It is widely thought that Halloween traditions came from Celtic harvest festivals of Samhain, although some people support the view that Halloween began independently as a Christian festival.

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Samhain was a celebration of the end of the harvest season, and means "summer’s end."

People at this time thought the walls between worlds were thin and ghosts could pass through into our realm, and it was feared they may damage crops for the next season.

To appease any spirits, Gaels would set up places at their dinner tables for the spirits and light bonfires to scare off evil spirits.

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How can you celebrate Halloween?

There are a number of ways to celebrate the festival, whether you want to go out or enjoy it from the comfort of your home.

These include:

• playing apple bobbing
• carving pumpkins
• playing pranks
• dressing up in fancy dress at a costume party
• going trick or treating
• watching horror films
• telling scary stories
• visiting "haunted" attractions
• some Christians attend church services or host a light party

Save 20% at The London Dungeons this Halloween plus many spooky savings and voucher codes with The Sun Vouchers.