We know it feels like we’ve only just got back to normal life after the holiday season, but get ready because it’s almost time to ‘hop’ into Easter (see what we did there)!
Easter is one of the most widely observed holidays around the world, observed by billions of Christians and embraced by many others. While the core themes of Easter remain similar across the globe, like hope and renewal, the ways in which different cultures mark the occasion vary hugely. From solemn church masses to playful waterfights, here’s a look at how Easter traditions unfold around the world.
Australia
We’re starting off strong with a fun little Australian tradition, if you can call it that… As a kid, many Aussies will remember their parents lamenting the fact that ‘we’ve only just finished the Christmas pudding and they’ve already got the hot cross buns out’.
Over the last decade or so, the release of hot cross buns by major supermarkets, like Coles and Woolworths, has been creeping ever closer, with them now showing up on Boxing Day. While there are many who stand firm that a hot cross bun should only be eaten to mark the end of Lent, research showed that over a third of Aussies were happily grabbing a pack as soon as they hit the shelves. Who doesn’t want a hot cross bun while you watch the Boxing Day cricket?
Spain
In Spain, Easter is less about tasty treats like hot cross buns and chocolate bunnies and more about large-scale public devotion. The week leading up to Easter Sunday features elaborate religious processions throughout the city. Enormous floats depicting the passion of Christ are carried through the streets, accompanied by brass bands and candlelight. The atmosphere is solemn and emotional, drawing both locals and visitors into hours-long processions that honour centuries-old Catholic traditions.
Greece
In Greece, Easter is the most significant religious celebration of the year in the Orthodox calendar. At 11 pm on Holy Saturday night, churchgoers light a candle. Well after midnight, and once everyone’s candle has been lit by the holy flame, they walk back to their homes, carrying their candles through the streets.
In another tradition, hard-boiled eggs are dyed red to signify the blood of Christ. Each person takes one and hits it against another until only one is left with an unbroken egg, and they are declared the lucky person for the year.
Italy
Just like Greece, Italy also has an egg-breaking tradition, although theirs is a little more competitive. Punta e cul sees players hitting each other's eggs in an attempt to break them, with the winner accumulating the most of their peers' eggs, which they get to keep as their prize, alongside major gloating privileges.
Aside from games, Italian traditions also centre heavily on religious processions and gatherings, one of which, ‘Easter in Rome’, sees the Pope delivering a special Easter Sunday mass in St. Peter's Square, after which everyone shares in a traditional Easter lunch of roast lamb, artichokes and other delicious Italian delicacies.
Poland
In Poland, a popular Easter Saturday activity is the ‘blessing of the Easter baskets’. Families fill baskets with Easter foods, such as sausage, bread, cake and sprigs of rosemary, and take them to the church to be blessed. Each basket also usually holds a small ‘Easter lamb’ made of either sugar or plastic.
Easter Monday is known as Śmigus-Dyngus, a day originally from the 14th Century where boys would throw water over girls and slap them with tree branches…thankfully, it seems to have evolved to be a bit more inclusive and is now often used as an excuse for a good old-fashioned water fight, no matter what gender you identify with.
