Here’s a look at Easter around the globe.

Ethiopia:

 Easter in Ethiopia begins with the fast of Lent. Christians celebrating the holiday don’t buy animal products like milk, eggs. Technically, many go vegan.  Then on the Sunday before Easter, Christians will wear headbands and rings made of palm leaves that are covered in crosses.

Image: Jialiang Gao

From late Saturday night into early Easter Sunday, people go to mass from 8 pm to 3 am in their best clothes carrying candles called “twaf. The mass is filled with drummers and Priests chanting a prayer called the “Geez.”

For the Easter Sunday dinner dabo, sourdough bread cut by a priest is the main dish along with mutton or lamb.

Image: Maurice Chédel

USA:

The United States shares a tradition with Germany: The Easter Bunny.  Have you ever wondered why in the world this strange creator even exists? This mythical rabbit is supposedly tied to the old Anglo-Saxon festival of Eastre, a spring holiday that celebrates fertility.

via GIPHY

The tradition of including the bunny in this Christian holiday was brought over by German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania in the 1700s. The German tales of ‘osterhas’ are where we get our stories of the egg-laying bunny.

via GIPHY

The egg hunts many people go on when young also originated in Europe. The hiding of the eggs is supposed to represent Jesus, the Christian symbol of the holiday, hiding from his tomb. Today this scavenger hunt is increasingly popular not only during this spring time holiday, but also during children’s birthday parties.

Mexico:

The festivals of Semana Santa, or Holy Week, and Pascua are the two different Easter festivals that take place in Mexico. Holy Week goes from Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, to actual Easter Sunday. Pascua is a weeklong celebration that starts after Easter Sunday. This is a popular time for holiday travel.

Image: Charlotte Bell

For Semana Santa, people buy special, woven palm leaves from their churches that are blessed by priests. These palm leaves are then hung outside the doors of their homes to ward off bad spirits.

Passion Plays, or plays that honor the history of Christianity, are performed in towns and villages. Each actor needs to have good upper body strength because they will have to carry a cross that weighs about 200 lbs.

On Easter Sunday there is a special Easter Mass, and then many towns have block parties with food, toys, fun fair rides and lots of music.

Italy:

The lead up to Easter, Carnival, is absolutely beautiful in Italy with the masks and costumes reminiscent of Venice’s Renaissance era. Like other Christian countries, Lent marks a time of fasting.

On the Friday and Saturday before Easter Sunday, churches feature statues of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, huge icons during the holiday. These statues are then paraded through a city or put on display in the center of town. Parade participants dress up in costume, and carry olive branches instead of palm fronds. Once the parade is finished, they decorate the outside of the churches with the branches.

Expect to see the Catholic Pope, Pope Francis give the Easter ceremony in The Vatican this year. It is a gigantic celebratory mass with very high attendace. 

United Kingdom:

 In some parts of the UK, Lent, the official beginning of Easter, happens with Pancake races.  These races literally involve patrons running as fast as they can while tossing a pancake up in the air.

Mothering Sunday occurs in the middle of Lent and is a day when  mothers are thanked with gifts of flowers like Primroses and Daffodils and a Simnel cake is made.

On Good Friday, you will find women planting parsley (for good luck) and both men and women planting potatoes. This is meant for good crop growth and harvests.

Image: David Dixon

Fun fact: Henry the Eighth was the first person to receive an Easter Egg from the Pope

Now go out and find an egg-laying bunny, decorate a hardboiled egg or enjoy a hearty Sunday afternoon meal.  No matter who you are and what your beliefs are, Easter symbolizes a joyous moment across the world: one of rebirth.

Digests

Demand Equity

Easter celebrations around the world

By Katherine Curtiss