With Halloween approaching fast you will have seen merchandise and decorations filling shop windows – we ask the people of Ipswich what they think of the holiday.

Halloween is often referred to as an American holiday but it actually begun 2,000 years ago in Ireland.

The Celts celebrated their new year on November 1 – the day would mark the end of summer and the beginning of a dark winter which was associated with human death.

Check out the Halloween events which are taking place in Ipswich.

People believed that on the night before the new year, October 31, the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred.

On the night of October 31, the Celts celebrated Samhain as people believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.

During the celebration people dressed up as ghosts and wore costumes consisting of animal heads and skins.

In the 8th Century the Christian church turned Samhain into All Saints Day or All Hallows.

The night before became All Hallows Eve and later on was shortened to Halloween.

Here is where you can pick a pumpkin in Suffolk and north Essex.