Why do we celebrate Halloween in Sweden?

Writer: Helena Bergström

Updated: September 2026 | Why do people actually celebrate Halloween in Sweden? Pumpkins, ghosts, costumes and "trick or treat" now seem obvious to many, even though Halloween only became widespread in Sweden in the 1990s. But the holiday has much older roots. We follow Halloween from old traditions in Ireland, via the USA and all the way to Sweden.

What is Halloween?

Halloween is celebrated on October 31 and is today associated with jack-o'-lanterns, costumes, ghosts, horror and children going around asking for "trick or treat".

The word itself Halloween comes from All Hallows' Eve, which roughly means ”All Saints” Eve.” But Halloween is not a tradition that was created at a single time and has remained the same throughout history. On the contrary, the celebration has changed many times and been influenced by both older folk customs, Christian holidays, and later American popular culture.

In Sweden, Halloween is a relatively new tradition. The Institute for Language and Folklore describes it as a festive tradition that primarily emerged here during the 1990s.

Does Halloween originate from Samhain?

The history of Halloween often begins with Samhain, an ancient Gaelic annual festival with strong roots in Ireland. Samhain marked the transition to the winter solstice and was one of the important recurring festivals of the year. The oldest Irish written sources about the celebration date from the early Middle Ages.

This time of year was associated with darkness, death and supernatural forces. In Irish tradition, the souls of the dead could return and other beings were in motion. People ate special foods, played games, told fortunes and dressed up or wore masks. But it would be too easy to say that today's Halloween is Samhain.

Over the centuries, different traditions have mixed and influenced each other. The Christian All Saints' Day became an important part of the calendar, while older and folk customs lived on and changed. The very name Halloween is also Christian in origin: All Hallows' Eve, the evening before All Saints' Day.

In other words, Halloween has many historical layers – and more would be added when the celebration crossed the Atlantic.

READ MORE: Halloween in Derry, Ireland - the best Halloween party in the world?

Why does Halloween have pumpkins?

A glowing pumpkin with a carved face is perhaps the most iconic symbol of Halloween today, but it wasn't all about pumpkins in the beginning.

In Ireland, they dug out instead turnips, carved scary faces into them and placed candles inside. Such lanterns could be used to scare people during Halloween. The National Museum of Ireland even has a preserved model of a so-called ghost turnip, based on a lantern of the type used in Donegal around the year 1900.

When Irish traditions later spread to North America, pumpkins were used instead. They were available in the fall and were also significantly larger and easier to hollow out than hard turnips.

The Legend of Stingy Jack

The lanterns also have an old folk tale about Stingy Jack. According to legend, Jack managed to trick the devil and ended up in a rather awkward situation after his death. He was not welcome in heaven, but he could not go to hell either. Instead, he was condemned to wander the earth with a lantern as his only light.

From there comes the story of Jack-o-lantern – or jack-o'-lantern. This should therefore be seen as folklore and legend, rather than as a documented account of exactly how the tradition of lanterns originated. However, the story is still strongly associated with the Irish Halloween lanterns.

How did Halloween end up in the United States?

During the 19th century, large numbers of Irish people emigrated to North America, bringing traditions from home with them. On the other side of the Atlantic, customs encountered new environments and other traditions and continued to change.

So turnips became pumpkins, and Halloween developed over time into a big holiday with masquerades, decorations, parties and various pranks. During the 20th century, children's celebrations became increasingly important.

Today, we associate Halloween with the United States as much as we do with Ireland. American films, television series, and other popular culture have since helped spread the modern version of Halloween around the world.

This doesn't mean that Americans invented Halloween. Rather, they developed the traditions further – and then exported their version of the celebration back to Europe and further out into the world.

When did Halloween come to Sweden?

It is often said that Halloween came to Sweden in the 1990s. That is true in a way – but that is not the whole story.

Halloween was known in Sweden much earlier. The Institute for Language and Folklore says, for example, that as early as 1961, the riot police had to intervene during a wild Halloween celebration among students in Stockholm.

However, these were isolated parties and events. Halloween was not yet a Swedish folk tradition. The big breakthrough did not come until several decades later.

Hard Rock Cafe, Butterick's and Halloween in Stockholm

A fun part of Swedish Halloween history took place on Hard Rock Cafe in Stockholm. In the 1980s, Hard Rock Cafe contacted costume and joke shop Butterick's for help with a Halloween celebration. The partnership developed into, among other things, masquerades and a monster parade for young people.

Butterick's later described this as an important "spark" for the growing Swedish interest in Halloween. But it took another few years before the celebration spread seriously outside the big cities.

During the 1990s, Halloween began to appear more and more in stores, media, schools and kindergartens. Masks, decorations, pumpkins and Halloween parties became more common and the trade actively contributed to spreading the new holiday. As early as 1997 and 1998, Swedish folklorists collected people's experiences and opinions about the new tradition. Halloween had come to Sweden to stay.

Why did we start celebrating Halloween in Sweden?

So there is no single person or event that can explain why we started celebrating Halloween.

American popular culture played a role. Restaurants, entertainment, and commerce helped introduce the celebration. Stores began selling masks, decorations, and Halloween paraphernalia. Schools and daycare centers organized parties.

But an imported tradition is unlikely to last long if people don't enjoy it. Halloween simply offers a reason to throw a party, dress up and play with things that might otherwise be a bit scary: ghosts, witches, skulls and darkness. For children, there is also a very tangible bonus in the form of candy.

Halloween also attracted opposition when the tradition was new. Some thought the celebration was too American and commercial, while others appreciated another celebration in the dark part of the year. Such differences of opinion still persist.

READ MORE: Halloween at Gröna Lund – horror, spooky fun and tips for your visit

From foreign tradition to our own Halloween parties

We have of course celebrated Halloween ourselves over the years. In 2012, for example, we were at Halloween party with a schlager theme – a combination that may not have particularly deep roots in Irish folklore, but we had fun! A few years later, it became a Halloween dinner and wine tasting instead, and then Halloween at Gröna Lund.

For us, the old pictures say something about how quickly Halloween became a fairly natural part of Swedish autumn celebrations. You don't even have to think too much about where the tradition comes from to organize a masquerade, carve a pumpkin or cook a Halloween-themed dinner.

How is Halloween celebrated in Sweden today?

Today, Halloween is established in Sweden, especially among children, young people and families with children. The Institute for Language and Folklore describes the celebration as firmly rooted among younger generations. The celebration can of course look very different. Some common elements are:

• that children dress up and go trick or treat
• Halloween parties and masquerades
• carved pumpkins and other decorations
• ghosts, witches, bats and other horror themes
• Halloween food and pastries
• horror movies and theme nights
• Halloween celebrations at amusement parks and other attractions

We have thus gone from Halloween being perceived as something fairly new and American to pumpkins now appearing everywhere as October draws to a close.

When is Halloween in Sweden?

Here comes the simple answer: Halloween is October 31st. The date is fixed and does not change from year to year.

The confusion arises because Halloween is close to the Swedish All Saints' Day, which, however, moves around in the calendar. All Saints' Day always falls on a Saturday sometime between October 31 and November 6.

This means that Halloween and All Saints' Day are close to each other in some years and sometimes even coincide.

In practice, it also happens that Halloween parties and children's trick-or-treating are moved to a nearby Friday or Saturday, simply because it suits them better than a regular weekday evening.

But the question ”When is Halloween?” So there is a simple answer: October 31. Every year.

Are Halloween and All Saints' Day the same thing?

No, Halloween and All Saints' Day are not the same holiday, even though there are historical similarities and they are close together on the calendar. In today's Sweden, the difference is quite clear.

Halloween is associated with pumpkins, costumes, horror, parties and trick or treat.

All Saints' Day is a quieter holiday when many people visit cemeteries, light candles and remember people who have died.

Of course, one does not have to exclude the other. You can very well enjoy both the Halloween party and the beautiful tradition of thousands of candles in cemeteries.

READ MORE: All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day – how the days are connected

From Irish turnips to Swedish pumpkins

The history of Halloween is actually a good example of how traditions work. They rarely arise ready-made in a single moment. Instead, they change as people, religions, and cultures come together.

The history of Halloween includes the Gaelic festival of Samhain and ancient beliefs about winter, darkness and supernatural powers. There is the Christian All Saints' Day, Irish masks and jack-o'-lanterns, the migration to North America and the American development with pumpkins and trick or treat.

And finally the modern version reached Sweden, where in just a few decades it went from a foreign American phenomenon to children ringing the doorbell and shouting "trick or treat".

Or, for that matter, Peter at a hit Halloween party. Traditions simply rarely stand still. And Halloween is still in the middle of its journey.