Scottish town celebrates Halloween six days early

In Kilmarnock, a town in Scotland, the residents are gearing up for Halloween a bit earlier than the rest of the country. While many people in Scotland are busy preparing for Halloween next week, Kilmarnock celebrates it six days ahead of time. This unique celebration is affectionately known as 'Killieween' by the locals. The town has a tradition of holding its Halloween festivities on the last Friday of October, regardless of the actual date. Historians are unsure about the origins of this tradition, but some believe it may be linked to the Gaelic festival of Samhain, which is associated with Halloween, while others think it might be connected to Kilmarnock's industrial history. A local historian named Frank Beattie, who has lived in Kilmarnock since 1952, suggests that this tradition has been around for many decades and is tied to the town's past as a hub for locomotive manufacturing and textiles. He explained, 'Kilmarnock was an industrial town, and men were paid on Fridays. Children knew that there was a better chance of getting something special on a Friday than on any other day of the week. ' Mr. Beattie also noted that Halloween celebrations were quite different in his childhood. Back in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Halloween was not as commercialized as it is today. 'We used tumshies, which are turnips, for lanterns, and we had to earn our treats by telling jokes, singing songs, or reciting poems. ' Over the years, Killieween has grown into a much larger celebration. Necole Connell, a 29-year-old woman who was born and raised in Kilmarnock, shared a video on TikTok explaining this unique tradition to her 12. 4k followers. Having lived in the town her entire life, she remarked, 'Killieween is all I know. ' Necole described the Halloween celebrations as a 'much bigger deal' now compared to the past. She recalled a time when she handed out 70 trick-or-treat bags to children who were out guising in just half an hour. Necole said, 'I always thought that everywhere celebrated Halloween on the same day as us because it makes so much sense to celebrate it on a Friday night. Who wants to go trick-or-treating during the week and then go to school the next day? ' For her, growing up, Killieween meant having a school disco on Thursday night, dressing up for school on Friday, and then going trick-or-treating with friends on Friday night. By the time Halloween arrives on October 31, there are often no pumpkins or costumes left in the stores because everything is sold out. Another local, Natalie Duncan, who is 35 years old and owns a barber shop in Kilmarnock, describes Halloween as 'a big part' of her life and her family's life. In 2019, she dedicated four months to transforming her home into a haunted house for Killieween to raise money for the Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity. Now, she has so many decorations that she has brought the celebrations into the community, as they wouldn't all fit in her garden anymore. Natalie expressed, 'I love Killieween because it gives people two Halloweens - one in the town and one at home. My best memories are about bringing the kids in the community together. All the kids who come to my barber shop talk about the event and get so excited about what we have made and bought. ' This year, the events for Killieween will include Killieween's Sinister Circus, a circus-themed trail featuring performers, acrobats, and clowns, as well as the Kilmarnock Halloween Running Festival and a grand celebration at the Kilmarnock Fire Station, which will feature live music, food, and games.