First Halloween fancy dress party at Savremena: Elves and wizards, or witches and evil fairies?

Sasa Zdravkovic / / Blog, I-IV, Kombinovani, Nacionalni, V-VIII / November 5, 2019

First Halloween fancy dress party at Savremena: Elves and wizards, or witches and evil fairies?

Having donned their colourful costumes and masks, the students arrived to a night of magic, tricks and giveaways – the first Halloween fancy dress party at Savremena. Parents, teachers and even the Principal joined the students in this night of make-believe, and together celebrated the first Halloween at Savremena.

What is Halloween? Guests welcomed with an interesting story of Halloween

The Principal wished Savremena’s students and their parents a warm welcome to the first great fancy dress party with an interesting story of Halloween.

In the days before the fancy dress party, the students enjoyed making symbolic decorations, lanterns and pumpkins, and now they had the opportunity to learn why these “scary” decorations are associated with Halloween.

Today we have Halloween, but in the past, this day was known as All Hallows’ Eve. This holiday marked the end of summer in pre-Christian pagan times, and the fire in Halloween lanterns symbolises light sent out into dark winter days. Later, Christians began to celebrate All Hallows’ Eve in this period of transition from summer to winter.

All this we learnt from a third grader – he was eager to share the knowledge he acquired on this spectacular night, whereas a fourth grader told us that the descendants of Celts – Irish and Scottish emigrants carried this tradition to America in mid-19th century.

In Serbia, donning demonic costumes, dancing, singing and asking sweets in return is a well-known and well-preserved tradition known as the “White Week”, Slavic Carnival (Poklade) or the day for forgiveness and merriment. So, here we are, celebrating Halloween with dancing, costumes and song!

Halloween treasure hunt

A large crowd of costumed individuals gathered round and after the welcome, the party could begin with festive music and carnival mood. The participants paraded their costumes, and the jury had a difficult task of choosing the most creative and scariest ones.

Even among all those creative costumes, Maleficent, lost Alice and several others stood out. All guests took part in a Halloween treasure hunt, and to find treasure, they had to rely on maps and solve interesting puzzles.

“A night to remember and great treasure hunt! We were rewarded for finding the hidden treasure, and the scariest costumes got diplomas. I can’t wait for the next Halloween party at school and another fancy dress party.”

Enthusiastic parents – party for the whole family

Our great party wasn’t intended for children only – parents and teachers also had a chance to remember their childhood, share their experiences with the little ones, and feel the magic of this enchanting and “scary” night. They joined children in the costume parade:

“Savremena always has a surprise in store for us! In addition to regular activities and workshops where we have the opportunity to participate together with our children, this is the first great party and a fancy dress party for the whole family. I’m so happy we are here in Savremena and participating in different activities with our children.”