Easter Traditions

Look at some inspirations with Easter traditions around the world, we collected for you!

Dear Partners!

Spring has finally arrived and with spring come the Easter Holiday!

We would like to wish everyone a Happy Holiday and we wish for you to spend some lovely time with your family and friends, at this wonderful time of the year.

Whatever Easter traditions you have – we hope you will have a lot of fun!

In case you don’t have any yet or would like to add more to the list, here is some inspiration for Easter traditions around the world


THE EASTER BUNNY

A man dressed up as the Easter Bunny, handing out wicker baskets to children and encouraging them to find hidden eggs in a park or garden. This is a really common sight at Easter in many countries, but the custom was imported from Germany.


IN FINLAND AND SWEDEN THE KIDS DRESS UP AS WITCHES

In Finland and Sweden, the children dress up as witches, with painted faces and handkerchiefs on their heads. They go from house to house asking for eggs and sweets. In return, they sing songs. Witches are a common feature of Easter in the Scandinavian peninsula, because in various locations they light bonfires on Good Friday, with the aim of driving out the witches that fly around looking for spirits to ensnare.

A WET EASTER IN POLAND

Easter Monday is a wet day in Poland, because they hold the ‘smingus-dyngus’ festival. Groups of young people have water pistol fights in the street, and some even use hose pipes. The main targets are the girls, because there is a belief that if they get completely soaked, they will be married within a year. In principle, the festival recalls the baptism of the Polish prince Mieszko on Easter Monday 966, but there are also many echoes of pre-Christian fertility rituals.




FRENCH OVERSIZED OMELETTE

Bigger is not always better, but sometimes, a special occasion requires something a little extra. Easter in France wouldn’t be the same without a giant omelette. The residents of Haux, France, spend Easter Monday create an omelette out of over 4,500 eggs in a giant pan! It serves over 1,000 people, and it is definitely not a hoax.



SMASHING IN CORFU

On Easter Sunday in Corfu, you have to take care on the street, because there is a tradition of breaking ceramic objects by throwing them out of the window. The locals smash casserole dishes, flowerpots, jugs… And they even make special oversized versions of these things. The origin of this ritual is uncertain: some believe that it symbolises the start of spring, while others think that it is to do with the custom of cleaning out for the liturgical new year. Some people also link it to the Good Friday hubbub that occurs in other places as a sign of mourning for the death of Jesus.


SPENDING EASTER READING A THRILLER IN NORWAY

One of the strangest Easter customs is to be found in Norway, where publishers bring out special editions of crime stories for the festival. This custom, known as ‘paaskekrimmen’, has no religious or pagan connections. It began in 1923, after an advert was placed in the press for a novel. It seems that the publicity was so real that many readers thought that it was authentic news.


EASTER, THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE ROME

Rome is one of the nerve centres of the Christian faith, and so the Vatican’s Easter celebrations are really spectacular. It all begins on Good Friday with a evening Stations of the Cross procession around the Colosseum, and it finishes on Easter Sunday with the Pope officiating a mass blessing in St Peter’s Square. It is performed from the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, and it is known as ‘urbi et orbi’ [‘the city (Rome) and the world’].




WILLOW, A FERTILITY SYMBOL IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC AND SLOVAKIA

Prior to Christianity, there were an abundance of fertility rituals celebrated during the Easter period that were linked to the rebirth of nature. In some countries, these customs still survive. This is the case in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, where the women are struck with bunches of willow branches. Willow is used because it is one of the first trees to flower in spring, and so has greater powers of fertility.



GERMAN EGG THROWING

Neighboring the Czech Republic, Germans may find their neighbor’s whipping tradition a little strange. They prefer to turn their Easters filled with games, such as throwing eggs. Germans like to throw hard-boiled decorated eggs as far as they can. Whoever can throw their egg the farthest without breaking it will win a prize such as a chocolate egg! It sounds wasteful, but the Germans have that covered too. Broken eggs get left for birds to feast on!



IN HUNGARY, FERTILITY IS SOUGHT THROUGH NICE SMELLS

In Hungary, there is an Easter fertility ritual where perfumed water is poured on young girls. In the past, they were completely soaked with water scented with flowers, but nowadays they wet their foreheads with cologne or perfume.



THE PRESTTIERS EASTER EGGS - PYSANKA - ARE UKRAINIAN

Eggs are one of the main distinguishing features of Easter celebrations around the world. But there is one place where they are especially famous, because they are so exquisite. The ‘pysanka’ are Ukraine’s traditional decorated Easter eggs. In order to work on them properly, they are coated in wax, which makes them more durable. This means they can be engraved with all kinds of delicate artwork. The most traditional designs are geometrical drawings or religious allegories.




FLORENCE EASTER FIREWORKS

The Florentines practice a folk tradition called Scoppio Del Carro or “Explosion of the Cart”. An antique 30-foot tall cart has been used to create a magical firework display for over 500 years.






PAPUA NEW GUINEA TOBACCO TREES

Move over chocolate; Papua New Guinea prefers tobacco to cocoa. Chocolate isn’t much use in Papua New Guinea’s steamy jungles, so Easter trees at the front of churches are decorated with sticks of tobacco and cigarettes instead. These are handed out after the service.