Easter Traditions from Around the World

Easter is one of the most significant religious holidays in the Christian calendar, celebrating the resurrection. Although the holiday is celebrated globally, different regions around the world have their unique customs and traditions to mark the occasion. From unique food dishes to distinctive celebrations, here’s a look at how different countries celebrate Easter.

United States Easter Traditions

Easter is a celebrated holiday in the United States, marked by the famous Easter egg hunt. Kids and adults alike gather to hunt for eggs that are often filled with candy and other surprises. The White House hosts an annual Easter egg roll, where children roll colorful eggs down the White House lawn. In addition to the egg hunt, many American families celebrate Easter by enjoying a festive meal. Ham is a popular dish served on Easter Sunday, along with mashed potatoes, green beans, and sweet potatoes.

Bermuda Easter Traditions

In Bermuda, people fly homemade kites on Good Friday. Why do people in Bermuda fly kites on Easter? The legend started when a local teacher had trouble explaining Jesus’s resurrection to a Sunday School Class so he made a kit to explain the concept. In Bermuda, they also have sunrise services and enjoy eating codfish cakes served on homemade hot cross buns.

Greece Easter Traditions

In Greece, Easter festivities start during Holy Week. Easter is the most important religious holiday of the year. Greeks celebrate the occasion with a week-long festival called Holy Week, which begins on Palm Sunday and culminates with Easter Sunday. During this time, people attend church services which are usually held at night and participate in processions, often carrying candles. On Holy Saturday for the Anastasi mass, people gather outside their local churches and light candles, which they carry home to symbolize the light of Christ. Greek Easter Foods on Easter Sunday, people roast lamb on a spit and celebrate with family and friends, often dancing and singing. Easter bread is very popular also known as tsoureki represents the holy trinity. In Greece, you will find only red Easter eggs. Red is the color of life and a representation of the blood of Christ. The egg carries the symbol of the renewal of life, and the message of the red egg is victory over death. The dyed eggs are not supposed to be consumed until Easter Sunday as well as Easter bread and special Easter cookies ‘koulouria’ are also baked for the special day.

Mexico Easter Traditions

In Mexico Semana Santa is Holy Week, the week before Easter, and there are celebrations the week after Easter known as Semana de Pascua. It begins on Palm Sunday and ends on Easter Sunday. This is a time when people attend church services and outdoor processions. On Good Friday, Mexicans participate in a reenactment of the crucifixion, where actors dress up as Jesus and the Roman soldiers. On Easter Sunday, families gather for a festive meal. Popular Mexican Easter foods are plenty of fish but meat is traditionally made as such as Lamb well as mole, tamales, empanadas, fried plantains with a sweet topping, and rice pudding. Cascarones are made as easter egg shells filled with confetti and they crack them over each other’s heads.

Scandinavian & Norway Easter Traditions

In Norway, Easter is celebrated with a week-long holiday called Påske, which begins on Palm Sunday and ends on Easter Monday. Scandinavians have their special celebrations; in Sweden, children dress up as Easter witches and paint their cheeks red, wear old clothes similar to our Halloween, and trade their artwork for candy. This is known as påskärringar (‘Easter hags’). They knock on doors to wish neighbors Happy Easter and hope to get candy in return. They also color eggs and feathers and tie them to the branches of trees as Easter decorations. In another Scandinavian tradition from Finland, children dress up as witches and wander the streets with broomsticks to hunt for treats. For lunch, popular Scandinavian Easter foods are cured salmon casserole, pickled herring, and boiled eggs. For dinner, many prepare lamb, carrots, and asparagus.

Italy Easter Traditions

In Italy, Easter is celebrated with a week-long festival called Settimana Santa, which begins on Palm Sunday and ends on Easter Sunday. The Pope holds an audience in Saint Peters Square for Palm Sunday and Easter. People also attend church services and participate in processions, often carrying religious statues. Easter eggs are decorated with natural dyes and served as part of lunch. To Italians, they symbolize rebirth and renewal. On Easter Sunday lunch is the main meal for most, families gather for a festive meal, which often includes dishes such as roast lamb, artichokes, and sweet bread called Colomba Pasquale. Colomba Pasquale is a traditional Easter cake that is dove-shaped and decorated with candied oranges as well as a sugar and almond glaze. Torta di Pasqua is also popular. It is a homemade cheese bread that is sprinkled with holy water. They celebrate Easter Monday, La Pasquetta where they take a short break to enjoy the outdoors and be with family and friends.

Other Easter Traditions around the world include…

In some areas in Northwestern Europe, natives light large bonfires called Easter Fires on Easter Sunday and Monday. This now brings communities together but originally was to chase winter away.

More than 4500 eggs are used to feed residents of Haux, France, to serve an enormous omelet to over 1000 people on Easter Monday.

March in the Easter bonnet parade in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Kids decorate their bonnets with bunny ears, chickens, eggs, chocolate and flowers.

Easter Monday is known for “whip-cracking in the Czech Republic or Slovakia.” Local men and boys roam the streets with gaily decorated willow switches, looking for girls to lightly whip. The whipping is not painful but encourages good health and beauty.

Confectioners in Australia make chocolate likenesses of the Bilby to raise awareness of the dwindling population of this small rabbit.

Women dress up in traditional clothes in Hungary and get splashed with water.

Easter trees are decorated with packets of tobacco and cigarettes in Papua New Guinea at the front of churches. They are handed out after the service.

Devout Catholics in the Philippines have taken to the practice of self-crucifixion and self-flagellation on Easter, thinking this helps purify them and cleanse them of the world’s sins.

People in Norway escape to their mountain cabins and spend the Easter weekend watching a whodunit television show or reading detective novels. This phenomenon was triggered by the immense popularity of a crime novel in 1923 set on the Bergen railway.

The good folk of Otago, New Zealand, grab their guns for the annual “Great Easter Bunny Hunt.” This is to rid the farmlands of invasive pests. Over 500 hunters vie for the trophy and the $NZ 3500 prize money.

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