Halloween is a strange holiday. It started several centuries ago in Europe. It began as "Hallow Evening" which (mean) "holy night". At that time November 1st was (call) "All Saints' Day(万圣日)" and people honored all the saints who did not have their own special day. People believed all the spirits of dead people were active the night of October 3lst. So people would play all sorts of tricks on each other.
Black is one of the (tradition) Halloween colors, probably because Halloween activities and traditions took place at night. Pumpkins are a symbol of Halloween, orange has become the other traditional Halloween color. (make) lanterns out of pumpkins is a Halloween custom. Halloween is great fun for children. They dress up . ghosts and witches(女巫). Small (child) go trick or treating. They wear costumes, knock on doors, and shout "Trick or Treat!". People always choose (give) them candy as a treat. Adults sometimes "trick or treat" their friends, too. Usually the treat" is a glass of wine or some small gifts,
Spain is famous for its tomato festival, called La Tomatina. It happens in a small town Bunol on the last Wednesday of August every year. During the festival there are all kinds of activities, but the most exciting part is the tomato fight. It takes place at the end of the long celebration. You are encouraged to throw tomatoes in the fight. There're many stories about how the festival began. One of the stories goes that during the 1940s，some friends started a tomato fight, while another story is about a local band. Anyway, everyone in Bunol seems to have a different story. Before the tomato fight, there are parades, musical band shows, street parties and so on.
On the day of the fight, shopkeepers cover their windows and doors in order to keep away from the tomato fight. At the same time, thousands of tourists and local people come to the town square together. Then large trucks full of tomatoes arrive. From the back of the large trucks, a great town band start to throw tomatoes at others. Then the crowds fight back, throwing the tomatoes at anything and anyone. Soon the streets are in the sea of red tomato juice.
Everyone is supposed to obey a small number of rules: You must squash(压烂) the tomato before throwing it and you are allowed to throw nothing but tomatoes.
It usually lasts an hour. Everyone then sets off to the river to clear up. Sounds like fun!
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