EASTER AROUND THE WORLD

EASTER TRADITIONS AROUND THE WORLD

Easter symbols: https://quizlet.com/_38l8bd

Which of the things mentioned above are common in your Easter holidays?

Easter Week begins with Palm Sunday and culminates in weekend commemorations of Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday, and in some countries Easter Monday. Around the world, different cultures or countries have their own traditions to celebrate the Easter holiday.

1) BERMUDA: Bermudians celebrate Good Friday by flying home-made kites, eating codfish cakes, and eating hot cross buns. The tradition is said to have begun when a local teacher from the British Army had difficulty explaining Christ’s ascension to Heaven to his Sunday school class. He made a kite, traditionally shaped like a cross, to illustrate the Ascension.

2) NORWAY: Norwegians have an interesting tradition for the season known for “Easter-Crime” or Paaskekrim. At this time of year, many around the country read mystery books or watch the televised crime detective series on national television. Many families escape up to the mountains for the vacation week.

3) NORTHWESTERN EUROPE: Large bonfires, called Easter Fires, are lit on Easter Sunday and Monday. The most common explanation for the origin of the Easter Fires, that Easter is a time when spring becomes victorious over winter and the fires were to chase the darkness of winter away. Today, however, the meaning of the fires is simply to bring communities together. The nights are festive with heavy consumption of gin, lager, and snacks.

4) SWEDEN: Easter is celebrated with meals of eggs, herring, and Jansson’s Temptation (potato, onion and pickled sardines baked in cream). The most interesting tradition to come out of Sweden is that in the days leading up to Easter Sunday, children dress up as Easter witches, wearing old clothes and red cheeks. Traveling from home to home in their neighborhoods, the children trade paintings and drawings for sweets. 

5) HAITI: In Haiti, Holy Week is marked by colorful parades and traditional music played on bamboo trumpets, maracas, drums, even coffee cans. The holiday is a mixture of Catholic and Voodoo traditions. Voodoo believers bring goat heads and other parts, as offerings to the spirits, during a ceremony in Souvenance village, Haiti. 

6) WASHINGTON, DC: For 130 years, the White House has hosted the Easter Egg Roll on its South Lawn. The main activity involves rolling a colored hard-boiled egg with a large serving spoon, but now the event boasts many more amusements, like musical groups, an egg hunt, sports and crafts.

7) SPAIN: Easter processions are common in central and southern Spain, but Seville’s Semana Santa, or Holy Week festival, is one of the most impressive. Lavish floats, adorned with candles and religious statues, sail through the streets, accompanied by marching bands and crowds of worshippers who have come to see the dramatic event. But it’s the masked penitents or nazarenos that are perhaps the strangest looking members of the procession, dressed in habits with pointed hoods.

Are these statements True or False?

1. Easter day is always on a Sunday.

2. Easter is on the same date every year.

3. Easter eggs symbolise rebirth.

4. Lent lasts for the 50 days before Easter.

5. The Easter rabbit is a symbol of fertility.

6. The name Easter comes from an ancient Anglo-Saxon goddess, Eostre.