Noche de Brujas
Halloween, relatively new to Costa Rica is gaining popularity rapidly as the youngsters pick up on the concept of trick-or-treat.

Many bars and night spots are holding "Halloween" parties as they cash in on the commercial value of the day, which is mainly a North American tradition.

Halloween in Costa Rica is known as  "Noche de Brujas" (night of the witches). The festivity is new and the Ministerio de Seguridad Pública is offering advice for parents of protecting their chidlren and residents in general from the unscrupolous who might take advantage to commit crimes.

Using costumes and the tradition might give criminals an edge in robberies, giving them easy access to homes and concern of sexual offenses against minors.

Halloween originated as a Pagan festival among the Celts of Ireland and Great Britain, with Irish, Scots, Welsh and other immigrants transporting versions of the tradition to North America

in the 19th century. Most other Western countries have embraced Halloween as a part of American pop culture in the late 20th century.

The term Halloween, and its older spelling Hallowe'en, is shortened from All-hallows-eve, as it is the evening before "All Hallows' Day" (also known as "All Saints' Day").

In Ireland, the name was All Hallows' Eve (often shortened to Hallow Eve), and though seldom used today, it is still a well-accepted label.

Halloween, celebrated on the night of October 31, most notably by children dressing in costumes and going door-to-door collecting sweets, fruit, and other treats. It is celebrated in parts of the Western world, though most commonly in the United States, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Puerto Rico, and with increasing popularity in Australia, New Zealand, as well as the Philippines and France.

Many European cultural traditions hold that Halloween is one of the liminal times of the year when the spiritual world can make contact with the physical world and when magic is most potent (e.g. Catalan mythology about witches, Irish tales of the Sídhe.