October 26 – Allantide in Cornwall, England

Posted October 26, 2019

(Saturday nearest to Halloween)

Cornish foods and customs come from
Cornwall, England, the southwestern
county pictured above in pale pink.
The Cornish festival of Allantide is sometimes celebrated on the Saturday nearest to Halloween...and is sometimes celebrated on Halloween itself, October 31. Like so many other Halloween things, the festival is a mix of pagan and Christian customs.


Allantide is sometimes called Saint Allan's Day or the Feast of Saint Allan. Allan apples are large and red, and they appear to be ubiquitous symbols of the holiday. They make store windows festive, they are given out as gifts on Allantide, and they feature in games and fortune-telling activities. For example, a girl might put an Allan apple under her pillow at night in the hope that she will dream about the man she will someday marry. 

Don't try this at home! This is one of the most dangerous games I've ever heard of: A wooden cross is hung from the ceiling. Above the cross are lit candles, and below the cross dangle a few Allan apples. The goal is to bite or eat an apple, without using one's hands, and the punishment for being to gentle or too rough is - a face full of hot wax??? What?? I can just imagine candles falling onto players, hair catching on fire, and hot wax permanently blinding eyes. Craaaaaazy!

The other thing I saw plenty of in Allantide descriptions is the turnip lantern, similar to the pumpkin jack-o-lantern.


Finally, Allantide includes a custom similar to one from Day of the Dead celebrations: the family puts up a table display dedicated to dear ones who have died over the years.





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