To some it’s known as “Halloween,”
or else “All Hallows Eve.”
To some it’s simply “Dress Up Day,”
a time for make believe.

And some folks call it “Trick or Treat,”
when ghosts and witches play.
To others it’s the night before
the day called “All Saints Day.”

It’s got so many different names,
but this is what I say:
To me October thirty-first
is called “Free Candy Day.”

Spooky season is upon us and the British School of Sofia is once again preparing for the most spectacular Halloween parade the world (or at least Bulgaria) has ever seen.

While the parade is obviously the culmination of festivities at BSS, there’s a lot leading up to this spectacular event.

Over the course of two days, the entire BSS community played dress-up, enjoyed a karaoke session, partook in a massive bake sale, and witnessed the spookiest science show that easily got everyone in the spirit of trick or treating.

A day before the Halloween party was scheduled to take place, the science team took over BSS. Under the skillful guidance of Pavlina Bozhkova, our science lead, the team organised a Halloween-themed science show that not only looked visually impressive but also relied on actual scientific principles to tell a story and teach a lesson in the most enjoyable of ways.

The next morning, everyone gathered in the school that underwent a complete transformation to embrace the spirit of All Hallows’ Eve. Spider webs covered every corner. Pumpkins greened at us as soon as we entered the building and headed from the reception to each individual classroom. 

Over the course of the day, students partook in Halloween-themed games, they listened to some holiday classics, and got ready for the parade. 

Next came the bake sale. This year, we carried it out in the form of a Houses competition.

If you’ve been with us for some time already, you know that the British School of Sofia has its Houses system. A well-known tradition in British schools, this one is fully embraced by our teachers and students.

Students belong to one of four BSS houses – Kraken, Dragon, Centaur, and Phoenix. In each house, community and team spirit work together to get students to accomplish a goal and enjoy the experience in the company of their peers. 

The bake sale gave us all some spectacular Halloween treats to enjoy while letting the Houses generate funds for a student cause of preference.

And while the competition was incredibly intense this year, House Phoenix became the winner by a small margin over House Dragon.

Having our bellies filled with some homemade deliciousness, we now started getting ready for the biggest event of them all – the Halloween parade.

At BSS, each grade participates as a unit in the parade. Once all costumes have been presented, a judging panel takes a look at everyone’s creations and decides on the best. Both WonderWorld and BSS students were recognized for the fantasy and the extensive amounts of work that went into their costumes.

Last but not least, we graded the scary pumpkins, and yes, we had lots of those. You be the judge of all the precision and imaginative thought that went into the conceptualization and execution of these decorative pieces.