Calan Gaeaf: The Welsh Halloween festival
Wales has its own Halloween: Calan Gaeaf, with bonfire stones, apple-peel fortunes and a tailless black sow. Here’s how it began and how it’s marked today.
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When you think of Halloween, you likely picture carved pumpkins, horror films, and excitable kids greeting strangers at their doorsteps with ‘Trick or treat!’ However, did you know that many of these familiar Halloween traditions were popularised in Britain by American culture?
This time of year used to be marked by ancient customs forged much closer to home. Nonetheless, there remained distinct regional differences. Just ask the Welsh, who still celebrate Calan Gaeaf. Many practices associated with this centuries-old festival are so macabre and eye-opening, they make many of today’s Halloween habits look cheesy.
Think throwing stones into bonfires, predicting people’s deaths, and even fleeing from an evil pig in hot pursuit. Calan Gaeaf also has a surprisingly amorous side, having supposedly given generations of young unmarried people a sneak peek into their future love lives. Sky HISTORY looks at where Calan Gaeaf came from, and how the Welsh still mark it today.
How did Calan Gaeaf first come about?
In an age long before supermarkets were a thing, Brits often had to grow their food rather than buy it. So, whenever the harvest season came to an end, Celtic farmers were full of trepidation. Would their stash be enough to last them through winter? Not willing to take any chances, they would practise good-luck rituals at the end-of-October festival known as Samhain.
Calan Gaeaf is thought to have grown out of Samhain. The earliest known record is in the Welsh laws traditionally attributed to the 10th-century king Hywel Dda, which survive in 13th-century manuscripts. First referred to as ‘Kalan Gayaf’, it would later be known as Calan Gaeaf and fall on 1st November, which the Celts designated as the first day of winter.
The evening prior was ‘Nos Calan Gaeaf’, when the earthly and spiritual worlds were thought to closely intersect. This would provide a narrow window of opportunity for spirits to slip especially easily into our realm. Not too keen on running into these ‘abroad’ spectres, the Welsh would deliberately avoid places where they were believed to congregate, like stiles and crossroads.
Calan Gaeaf’s most notable ancient traditions
Many Calan Gaeaf rituals revolved around trying to predict the future. One good case in point is when, on 31st October, people would light a bonfire before casting stones into it. Each rock would bear the scratched name of the one who threw it in. The following day, people would attempt to retrieve their stones. If you found your stone unscathed, good fortune beckoned. If your stone was missing, you were expected to be dead within a year.
Do you know who you’ll marry? Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. What if, back then, a young unmarried woman didn’t? One custom around this time of year would be for her to throw a peeled apple skin over her shoulder. Upon landing, this apple skin would supposedly resemble an initial of her future spouse. Better still, she could apparently get to hear his name by chanting on church-owned land: ‘Here is the sheath, where is the knife?’
Even those lighting the bonfire on Nos Calan Gaeaf would need to return home for the night. They’d get their cue to leave when the embers of the fire started dying down. A tailless black sow was thought to chase those people fleeing the scene. According to legend, the sow would pounce on the unlucky person right at the back of the pack. Well, that’s certainly one way to encourage kids to get to bed on time…
How is Calan Gaeaf celebrated today?
The Welsh don’t hew to the traditions of Calan Gaeaf quite as closely as they used to. It’s not unusual to see Welsh castles still putting on Calan Gaeaf celebrations. Nonetheless, even at places like Caernarfon Castle, you might find that the events merge elements of Calan Gaeaf with the more modern take on Halloween. For example, attendees might be taught how to hollow out pumpkins rather than turnips, the vegetable of choice for carving in the old days.
One high-profile person to have recently breathed new life into Calan Gaeaf traditions is Carys Eleri. In 2024, the Welsh singer released the song ‘Nos Calan Gaeaf’, capturing the atmosphere of the season as distant generations of Welsh people knew it.
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