The Bergen County Historical Society presents All Hallows’ Eve: Songs of Love, Death, and the Supernatural on Saturday October 29th (Rain Date Sunday, October 30th) 2 pm- 3:30 pm at Historic New Bridge Landing, 1201 Main Street River Edge, NJ.

Halloween as we know it today did not exist before the 1870s. But the roots of Halloween reach back centuries into our past—to All Hallows’ Eve and ancient holidays and rituals, superstitions, and folklore. For at its core, the beliefs and observances that preceded Halloween were about the deepest mysteries of life—about life and death, things seen and unseen, and occurrences we can’t explain. Many cultures held that the spirits of our ancestors walked abroad in the land at this time, when the veil between this world and the next was the thinnest—whether they called it Le Jour des Morts, Dia de los Muertos, or Samhain.

Balladeers Anne and Ridley Enslow bring these ancient mysteries to life with a program of music spanning several centuries. The songs stretch back to medieval times, when children went door-to-door on All Hallows’ Eve (October 31) singing and begging for soul cakes, each one of which represented a soul freed from Purgatory. In the 18th century, songs of the supernatural abounded—of jilted lovers who came back to haunt their false loves, of murdered babes who returned to chide their mothers. More recently, there have been songs of witches—including the victims of the Salem witchcraft hysteria of the 1690s and the terrifying folkloric Russian witch, Baba Yaga—and of ghosts, too (occasionally humorous!).

Anne plays a large wooden instrument called a hammered dulcimer, which has 100 strings that are struck with tiny hammers. Ridley plays in 18th-century violin. And they both sing.  They have performed widely throughout New Jersey and the Northeast and have recorded six CD’s together, two of which received Notable Recording awards from the American Library Association. They have performed extensively at historic sites across New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York.

Balladeers Ridley and Anne Enslow, performing on the fiddle and hammered dulcimer, will present a 60-minute outdoor concert at the Campbell-Christie House, an 18th century Jersey-Dutch sandstone house. The concert will trace the legends, beliefs, and superstitions about Halloween beginning in medieval times through the 18th century and beyond.

Bring your own chairs and or blankets as seating will not be provided.

Afterwards be sure to stop by the gift shop inside the Campbell-Christie House or take a stroll through the rest of the historic site grounds. We have warm cider and cider donuts in the tavern yard included in ticket price.

Ticket reservations can be made here online or pay at the gate: $25 non-members, $20 BCHS members, $10 children

All proceeds go to support the soon to be built museum at New Bridge Landing.

Free parking available on site or take the train to the “New Bridge Landing” station on the Pascack Valley Line.

100% goes to our mission!

The event is subject to change.