Easter Traditions From Around The World

With Easter just a hop away, we explore how the upcoming holiday is celebrated all over the world. From timeworn traditions to more modern Easter expressions, a walk around the globe shows the diversity of how Easter is celebrated.

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Rio's Carnival started in 1723 when the Portuguese colonists introduced their tradition of ‘Entrudo,’ the custom of throwing water, food, mud and flour on people in the streets. The festivities often spurred brawls and riots and were eventually banned by the police in 1856. It wasn’t until the turn of the 20^th-century that Carnival took on the form we know today. Today’s Carnival celebrations in Rio de Janeiro are some of the largest, wildest and most exciting Easter celebrations in the world. Carnival is a weeklong affair that takes place before the start of Lent. The raucous festival is renown for its colourful parades that take over the streets on the Marques de Sapucai Avenue. The parades' highlights include large floats where participants can sing and dance for the spectators. For several days there is marching, singing and dancing all over the city. Dancers wear enormous, wild costumes fitted with large wire structures that transform the dancers into butterflies, birds and other exotic creatures.

Ethiopia

Easter is known asFasika in Ethiopia and the Orthodox Christians take the holiday very seriously. Fasika is typically celebrated a week or two after the western Church’s Easter, due to the difference in the Ethiopian calendar. Christians give up all animal products like meat, dairy and eggs during Lent. On Palm Sunday they wear headbands and rings made of palm leaves with crosses marker on them. Then on the eve of Easter Sunday there are religious services that last for hours and usually only end after three o’clock in the morning. During the service candles made of cotton and wax called ‘twaf’ are lit and drummers accompany the Priest’s chanting prayer called the ‘Geez.’ After the service, families return home to celebrate the end of Lent with a sour-dough bread called ‘dabo.’ Then after a good rest families and friends come together and feast on injera and Doro wat, a spicy chicken stew, or lamb or mutton stew.Easter is celebrated in a number of different ways in the U.K. and festivities take place throughout the Easter season. Some of the most festive celebrations centre around religious days like Palm Sunday, while others have their roots in royal affairs like Maundy Thursday. This famous U.K. tradition is when the Queen gives out “Maundy Money” to a number of spectators on Holy Thursday. This is a reference to when, centuries ago, it was customary for the King or Queen to wash the feet of poor people, similar to when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples before the Last Supper. Another religious celebration is the tradition of Passion Plays. Passion Plays were very popular during medieval times and during the Easter season, they reemerge in countries all over the world. Passion Plays are enacted across the U.K. and many of them are still spoken in Old English.One of the most popular Easter activities in both the U.K. and United States is decorating Easter Eggs. During medieval times eggs symbolised new life and new beginnings. Eggs that had been blessed by a priest were often the first food eaten to break the Lenten fast. Decorating eggs came from Greek and Syrian Christians who painted eggs red to symbolise the blood of Christ. The first person in the U.K. to ever receive an official Easter egg was sent by the Pope to King Henry the VIII as a gift.In France on Good Friday and Easter Sunday the church bells do not ring, and children are often told that the bells have gone to see the Pope for Easter. Another Easter tradition in France is the hanging of Boxwood or palm leaves over doors. They are believed to bring good luck to the people of the house.In Greece the Easter traditions centre around the Greek Orthodox Church. A tomb is often put inside a church on Good Friday and the congregation will process to the service as if they were going to a funeral. On Easter Saturday there is a Midnight Mass that is usually followed by fireworks that signal that Easter Sunday has begun. Then, on Easter morning a soup made of lamb stomach is traditionally eaten for breakfast. The rest of the lamb is roasted and eaten later in the day during a big family feast. It is also traditional for a cake made with oranges and almonds to be made and eaten with a spicy orange sauce poured over it.Easter is a very big deal in Mexico, so much so that there are two different festivals to celebrate the holiday. The first is known as Semana Santa, or Holy Week and occurs from Palm Sunday to Easter Saturday. During this week, people attend special church services, enjoy Passion Plays and hang palm leaves on their doors. On Easter Sunday there are large masses held across the country that are sometimes followed by street fairs where people can enjoy live music, games and food.Then from Easter Sunday until the following Saturday is Pascua, which is a popular time for families to go on holiday to visit relatives or go to the beach. Credit-Budapestzin.comIn small towns and villages across Hungary a century’s old tradition takes place on Easter Monday. This strange tradition dates back to pagan times and is called Vizbeveto, or Water Plunge Monday. The ritual consists of boys throwing or sprinkling water over girls dressed in traditional folk attire. In return, the girls present the boys with beautifully decorated Easter eggs either on the same day or the next.A fun Easter tradition in Bermuda is flying kites on the beach, as well as eating codfish and hot cross buns on Good Friday. According to sources, the tradition began when a local teacher wanted to better demonstrate the Ascension of Christ to his Sunday school class. So, he decided to build a kite in the shape of a cross to illustrate the religious act. Now, Bermudians continue this creative illustration by making brightly coloured homemade kites and flying them outdoors.On this Caribbean island, Easter celebrations blend traditional Catholic rituals with Voodoo beliefs. During Holy Week there are vibrant parades where musicians play rara music on maracas, drums, bamboo trumpets, and even coffee cans. Followers of Voodoo continue the celebrations with their annual pilgrimage to the village of Souvenance. It is there where other rituals like animal sacrifices, drumming and chanting are offered to appease the spirits.

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