Samhain the Day of the Dead

Scarterra has many different traditions to grieve their losses and pay respect to the honored dead, but the most common is Samhain or the Day of the Dead.  Samhain falls on the 16th of the Month of Blooding on the secular calendar and the 36th day of Hallisan on zodiac calendar.
Samahain is the last of of four Tween Days in the calendar year, marking the half way point between the autumn and winter Seasonal Stellar Days.
Spirits of the deceased, both hostile and friendly, have a much easier time interacting with the living.  Spirit loas have their powers greatly amplified on this day.  
Some cultures have somber Samhain rituals some have celebratory rituals but nearly every variation of a Samhain ritual is conducted with the same goal, they want to placate hostile spirits and rewards friendly ones.
Like on other Tween Days, Samhain also has noticeable uptick in Fair Folk entering the mortal plane.  Often these are the most violent and disreputable Fair Folk, if not outright violent, at least they are mischevious.

Participants

Those families and cultures that practice filial piety and ancestor worship are sure to recognize this day. Even people that normally make a huge fuss for their honored dead will usually make some kind of token observance.

Observance

Every nation and culture observes this holiday somewhat differently.  Here are some examples from West Colassia 
Even the most violent orc tribes usually lay down their arms entirely for this day, sometimes the entire week surrounding Samhain in order to respect their honored dead. When rival orc tribes want to broker agreements, this is usually when they try to meet up. Orcs consider this an auspicious day for marriage or simple conceptions.

Dwarves typically have a somber ceremony the day before or sometimes the week before accompanied by a ritual fast. They will talk about losses on mourning. On Samhain itself they will have a raucous party and feast where they ceremonially offer up food and drink to their ancestors as well as their living families and tell boastful stories of their ancestors great deeds. This is one tradition that is near universal throughout the three main dwarf ethnicities.

Wood elves typically treat this as a somber holiday, eating and talking little. After a short somber religious ceremony. The elves will take turns ritually standing guard over their family gravesites, memorials, and also ritually guard their young children. Some of this guardian is not merely symbolic, as their forested homeland of Codenya has a lot of portals to Fae Home that open on or near Samhain.

The dragon bloods of the Kingdom of Swynfaredia honor their noble draconic and draconic legacy on this day. They often stage plays and songs about their famous ancestors. Much like in real world Chinese New Year's celebrations, many dancers wear large dragon costumes. In order to give the commoners reason to celebrate the dragon blood's ancestors, these staged performances give out a lot of free food often dispensed from the mouths of the dragon costumes. There are also frequent intermissions with more low brow entertainments like jugglers, puppet shows, and bawdy singing to encourage a celebratory air. Because Swynfaredian sorcerers like to show off, they will often display benign magic to entertain their peers and subjects.

Fumayan humans have assimilated the practices of their dwarven, elven, and Swynfaredian neighbors with somber and celebratory aspects. A small number of rotating volunteers stand on symbolic guard duty. Food is shared with living and deceased family members and nobles commonly give away free food and entertainments as a gesture of good will for the common folk.

The Kantoca have celebratory aspects at the end but the overall tone is somber with quiet and formal memorials for the honored dead.  In Kantoc, there is a lot of general Hallisan worship on this day as the Kantoca view Hallisan as the guardian of the souls of the honored dead.

Primary Related Location

Scarterra