Check Out These Fun Trick-or-treating Activities in Cebu for Your Kids

Halloween or All Hallows’ Eve is a celebration on the night before All Hallows’ Day or All Saints’ Day. A number of Western countries observe this celebration on October 31. The Halloween traditions are widely believed to have started from the Celtic harvest festivals that may have pagan roots. One of these festivals is the Samhain Festival, which marks the end of the harvest season and the start of the winter season.

One of the traditions practiced during Halloween is trick-or-treating. The tradition traces its origins to the medieval Britain traditions of souling and guising. Souling was a tradition where the needy would beg for soul cakes from people in return for praying for the souls of their dead relatives. Meanwhile, guising was a tradition where people would dress up as ghosts and ghouls and ask for food, wine, or money. In return, they would sing, recite poetry, or tell jokes. When these traditions were revived by Scottish and Irish immigrants to the US, it resulted in the present trick-or-treating. It was initially focused on the tricks before it became a family-friendly tradition in the 1950s.

The Americans brought this tradition to the Philippines and Filipinos have taken to it like ducks to water. In Cebu, a number of malls, hotels, and resorts offer trick-or-treating activities to their customers and guests.

A number of hotels and resorts in Cebu also will hold their own trick-or-treating activities.

A hotel in Cebu known for holding Halloween activities is the Montebello Villa Hotel. Dubbed as “Cast a Spell 2 – Halloween Around the World,” the Halloween event at the hotel will be held at the Luis y Mercedes Ballroom on October 30 at 3:00 PM. For a registration fee of PhP499 per person, guests will be treated to a Spooktacular Magic Show, parlor games, and kiddie meals, among other surprises. Participants will also have the chance to win an overnight stay in a Premier Garden Room and a 10% discount on a Kiddie Party. In addition, Montebello Villa Hotel is offering a 10 + 1 free ticket promo for this event.

Walk-in guests who want to join the Halloween party at Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa will have to pay a registration fee of PhP1,850. But in-house guests pay only PhP1,700 if they decide to join the event. The registration fee for the Halloween party at the resort is inclusive of a dinner buffet, entertainment, and a trick-or-treat activity. Adults accompanying their children will also have to pay the registration fee to join their kids at the dinner table.

Also Read: Keep Your Children Safe on Halloween

Plantation Bay Resort and Spa is one of the resorts giving the children of their guests the opportunity to go trick-or-treating. Registration is free for the children of checked-in guests while walk-in guests have to pay a fee to join the activity. The resort also offers a number of other activities for children, including face-painting sessions and a parade, among others.

Parkmall Cebu will hold the “Halloween Hunt for Treats” in the afternoon of October 29.

The event is open to all children between the ages of one and 10. A minimum accumulated purchase of PhP500 gives each child the opportunity to join the trick-or-treat activity of the mall. Each participant will be given a Parkmall loot bag filled with treats along with the list of tenants participating in the event. The first 100 registrants to the mall’s Halloween event will receive additional freebies. Participants can also win special awards when they come in full Halloween costumes. The special awards include the Scariest Costume for boys and girls, and the Scariest Little Monster for younger participants between the ages of one and three.

In addition to the trick-or-treat activity, the mall also sets up a horror park each year. The horror park gives mall customers the scare of their lives.The theme of the horror park this year at Parkmall Cebu is “The Hospital.” The horror park is open from October 7 to November 6 and has an admission fee of PhP50 per person.

SM City Cebu, one of the first malls in Cebu, will have their annual trick-or-treat event for Halloween on October 31, from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM. Registration is required and participants should present a single receipt or receipts of accumulated purchases of at least PhP1,000 from any establishment in the mall. Participants will get a Halloween trick-or-treat pass that allows them to go around the mall and collect some goodies from participating tenants. Children should be accompanied by an adult while going around looking for goodies to take home. Aside from this annual Halloween activity, the mall normally organizes other activities for its customers, including Halloween photo sessions and costume contests, among others.

Ayala Center Cebu gives another dimension to Halloween this 2016. They’ve lined up a series of activities for the “Love ‘Em Costume Holidays” happening on October 29 and 30, 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM, at the mall’s Activity Center. There will be Fairy Land, Superhero Land, and Anime Land where participants can experience a different kind of Halloween at Ayala Center Cebu.