There are many and sometimes strange Easter customs around the world. The educational travel specialist EF Education First, has compiled six different traditions spoken by language travelers.
No Easter Bunny in Australia
Germans love their Easter bunnies. In Australia, however, wild rabbits have become a real nuisance and threaten native species. Because the Australians prefer to distance themselves from the long-ears, they have quickly replaced the Easter bunny with a marsupial, the rabbit-nosed bilby. With upright ears and hopping he looks very much like a rabbit and also cuts a fine figure as a chocolate Bilby.
Somersaults at sunrise in the UK
Welsh people struggle out of bed early on Easter morning, before the sun rises. They walk up a hill together and await the sunrise. For them he symbolizes the resurrection of Christ. As soon as the first rays of sun appear, the Welsh people do three somersaults on their hill.
Rod lashes in Finland
On Palm Sunday, exactly one week before Easter, people in Finland pick up birch canes and give themselves light blows on the back. They want to remember the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, when he was greeted by the people with palm fronds. In Finland, on Easter Sunday, it is better to cover your ears: Children roam the streets with drums and horns and end Lent loudly and happily.
Water battle in Poland
How about a proper water fight at Easter? This is how the feast of the Resurrection is celebrated in Poland. On Easter Monday, the so-called “Śmigus Dyngus” or “wet Monday”, people chase their way across the city with buckets, water pistols and water bombs until their clothes are completely soaked. The custom goes back to the Middle Ages. At that time, bachelors pelted their chosen ones with water as a token of their affection. Today women and men in Poland compete equally in the Easter wet T-shirt contest.
A giant omelette in France
It’s not that wild in France, but it’s all the more culinary. In the southern French municipality of Bessières, a huge omelette made from more than 5,000 eggs is prepared on Easter Sunday and distributed to locals and sightseers. Apparently the tradition stems from none other than Napoleon, who ate such a delicious omelette in Bessières that he then had another prepared for his entire army. Today the gigantic egg dish is a symbol of friendship and cultural exchange.
Irish herring funeral
Easter means: the end of Lent! Some Irish still celebrate this today with a symbolic funeral. They bury herrings and thus bury the Lent, when meat is traditionally forbidden and mainly fish is eaten.
Crime fever in Norway
During the holidays it is particularly pleasant to read, as people in Norway know that too. Because that’s where the detectives go on Easter and everyone is in crime fever. “Påskekrimmen” is a Norwegian tradition where the whole country reads, hears or watches detective stories and thrillers during the Easter break. Publishers as well as radio and television stations participate and publish detective stories – detective stories are even printed on the milk cartons.
Which days Easter falls most often
Easter is one of the Christian religious holidays with no fixed secular calendar date. It is celebrated on the first Sunday after the church full moon, which occurs on or at the earliest after March 21. Easter begins on Easter Sunday and lasts seven weeks. In 500 years (from AD 1600 to AD 2099), Easter was and is most often celebrated on either March 31st or April 16th (22 times each).
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