Easter Traditions From Around the World
Every nation has its own holiday traditions and Easter is no exception. The world’s diversity is reflected in these customs. I love collecting trivia and legend and lore. Here are some of my favorites to share with you.
United States
Begins with carnival, a celebratory parade in New Orleans the night before Lent. Lent continues for six weeks ending with a sunrise service on Easter morning. Some traditions include dying eggs, hunting for baskets and an egg hunt before enjoying a meal of ham, potatoes, breads and desserts. There is an annual egg hunt hosted by the president in Washington D.C. at the White House, a tradition started in 1978 by Rutherford B. Hayes.
England
In small towns, pancake races are held on Shrove Tuesday to mark the start of Lent. Traditionally, pancakes were made to empty the larders of rich food until Easter Day.
Celebrates the resurrection of our Lord with a festive parade. Churches are decorated with Easter lilies. Dance performances are hosted in which Morris dancers costumed in white shirts and red sashes celebrate. To add to the festivities, they wear bells around their wrists and ankles.
Poland
The Polish love the traditional meal of ham, kielbasa and babka bread. No Easter would be complete without this light yeast bread made with plump raisins, rum and vanilla. But not a bite is eaten until the food is placed in a basket and blessed at an Easter Saturday service.
Mexico
Papier-mache images of the traitor Judas of all sizes are suspended over streets and poles on Easter Sunday. They are filled with fire crackers and lit at the appropriate moment followed by much rejoicing.
Sweden
Young Swedish girls dress as witches on Easter morning and go around the houses with coffee pots to collect sweets and coins while people try to frighten them off by lighting fire crackers.
Spain
Easter is celebrated by beautiful floats of red carnations. In Murcia, a table is set to designate the Last Supper. Twenty-six men carry it through the town before setting it down for the feast. Madrid processions are silent--where village boys in Valencia and Helen play a drum roll from Holy Wednesday to Easter Sunday.
Greece
A priest lights a candle and all his neighbors use this candle to light their candles. After the service, the candles are carried home through a festivity of fireworks.
Hungary
Girls wear as many petticoats as possible to church. When they come out, boys sprinkle them with water for good luck.
Switzerland
Swiss toss eggs down the mountains for good luck. Fathers whistle on the Easter hare in the hope he will lay eggs in the children’s baskets on Easter morning.
France
Bells stop ringing on Holy Thursday to mourn Jesus’s death. On Sunday morning, the Resurrection, bells ring and people rejoice, hug and kiss.
Australia
Is where the Royal Easter Show is hosted in Sydney. This show exhibits the best produce and farm animals. Other festivities include fireworks, parades, joy rides for kids and delicious food. Rather than the rabbit, the Bilby is the symbol most associated with Easter in Australia. This is said to be due to the bunny rabbit destroying the agriculture crops. The hot game is Egg Knocking. The Easter celebration begins Good Friday and ends Easter Monday.
Germany
Begins on Good Friday with the draping of the cross. Fish is eaten on Easter Feast. Kids light huge bon fires on Easter Eve. Easter lunches include cookies, chocolates and cakes in the shape of a lamb along with ccruller, a thick donut. Kids enjoy egg hunts and a game of chocolate kiss where they gobble up as many chocolate covered marshmallows as they can stuff into their mouths. The child who eats the most and has the cleanest face wins a prize.Christmas trees are burned to welcome spring. The passion play, based on the life of Jesus is held in a town where about 1200 villagers take part.
So let’s have some Easter fun. Today is the twelfth day of A TISKET A TASKET PUT ROMANCE IN YOUR BASKET Contest.
Spring is in the air! Bees are buzzing. Children anxiously await the big morning
where they can graze on candy all day. What about Mom? We’ve got a treat for you!
Come join a group of romance authors in celebration of spring. Enter to win a prize
a day as well as enter to win the grand prize. I’m hosting the day’s contest and providing the link to tomorrow’s location.
Don’t forget to enter to win the grand prize! Here’s the dirt…
A TISKET A TASKET, PUT ROMANCE IN YOUR BASKET Grand Prize:
To enter to win prizes from the authors donating treasures to the grand prize (see
each day’s post for what an author is donating to the grand prize), find the four
Easter eggs in the A TISKET A TASKET, PUT ROMANCE IN YOUR BASKET blog event.
You will be searching for the above egg. And no, this isn’t one of them! (But it
might be hidden here so look around, just in case.) Visit all of the authors’ websites,
locate the FOUR eggs hidden somewhere on four different sites, make a list of their
locations by pasting the URLS to the website pages in an e-mail, then send the entry
to happyendings2007@aol.com by midnight CST on May 1st, 2009. The winner will be
randomly drawn and announced May 2nd at
Skhye Moncrief’s Blog
. Tip #1, subscribe to
Skhye Moncrief’s Blog
to learn if you’re the winner! Don’t miss the fun! See you next to the burgundy tulips. ~Skhye
So today, I am giving an eBook of my Easter story Lasting Love. Just leave a comment about a favorite Easter tradition and I will choose a name at midnight. Good luck!
And for the grand prize, I am donating a gift card for this beautiful Lasting Love rose bush. Isn’t it pretty?
So, tomorrow, April 13th, go visit Jennifer Johnson’s blog
http://jennfrancesca.blogspot.com/
Good luck bloggers and Happy Easter!!
