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Nearly one in five Poles planning to celebrate Halloween: study

29.10.2019 07:50
Nearly one in five Poles—18.6 percent—plan to celebrate Halloween this year, according to a survey.
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Pixabay LicenseImage by Ulrike Leone from Pixabay

While the holiday is not exactly popular across Polish society, 31.6 percent of respondents in the 18-24 age group are planning to take part in various Halloween events on Thursday, the poll found.

Meanwhile, the figure for respondents aged over 55 is only 8 percent, the researcher, Havas Media Group, said.

Among those planning to celebrate, one in two respondents say they will deck out their homes with Halloween decorations. Some plan to spend the day watching horror movies and going to Halloween parties.

Under 20 percent of those planning to celebrate say they will accompany their children trick-or-treating this Halloween.

The survey was conducted this month on a representative nationwide sample of 1,060 adult respondents.

Two years ago, a spokesman for Poland's Roman Catholic bishops slammed Halloween as "a pagan custom, alien to our culture and tradition."

The spokesman, Father Paweł Rytel-Andrianik, said at the time that in Poland the start of November is a time for remembering the dead, and that Halloween negates fundamental Christian values.

Poles traditionally visit cemeteries to honour their deceased relatives and friends on All Saints' Day on November 1 and All Souls' Day on November 2. 

(gs/pk)

Source: Havas Media Group