Halloween is an ancient pagan festival firmly rooted in the West, but despite being alien to the country’s indigenous culture, it is becoming ever more popular in Kazakhstan, especially among young people.
Although embraced by young Kazakhs, Halloween is not celebrated in the classical sense. On the streets you are unlikely to meet crowds of children dressed as witches, ghouls and vampires, collecting candy from houses. Instead, it has become a symbol of fun, freedom of self-expression, and an opportunity to create and experience something new and unusual.
In Almaty, Astana, and in other major cities in the country, many clubs, cafes and bars host Halloween-themed parties attended by people in fancy dress. Every year the costumes become more and more creative, for, after all, Halloween is not just an opportunity to dress up, but also a great chance for participants to demonstrate their design and artistic skills.
Many of the staged events include contests for the most creative and frightening costumes, as well as themed music, dancing and cocktails, and as student Serzhan from Almaty told TCA, provide “an opportunity to have fun with friends and to reincarnate our favorite characters from movies and TV series.”
Photo: TCA, Tamila Olzhbaekova
In addition to parties, Halloween movie nights are likewise, growing in popularity. Students and groups of friends gather to watch classic horror movies or novelties of the genre, often at home, but sometimes in student dormitories or cafes. For many, like Camilla, a university student in Astana, it has become an annual tradition: “We get together with friends every year on Halloween, watch horror movies until the early hours and argue whose costume is the creepiest.”
Some movie theaters have now begun to support the trend by offering special repertoires for Halloween week, including screenings of films such as “Scream” and “Spellbound”. As is to be expected, social media also plays a key role in popularizing Halloween in Kazakhstan. On platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, local youth use Halloween as an occasion to post creative content: makeup, makeup videos, photo and video shoots with themed costumes. In this context, Halloween has become a kind of cultural phenomenon for self-expression. Companies also use social media to create a festive mood and offer seasonal discounts.
Despite its growing popularity, the overall response to Halloween in Kazakhstan remains divided. For some people, it is associated with Western influences that contradict local cultural and religious traditions. For many young people, however, it is simply a fun holiday that has no deep meaning, but rather an excuse to immerse oneself in an atmosphere of mysticism and creativity.
“For me, Halloween is not a religious holiday, just an opportunity to have fun with friends,” shared Altair, a student from Almaty. She, like many others, sees nothing contradictory to her culture in the celebration of Halloween, and simply enjoys participating in themed events.
