Easter customs around the world
Preparations for Easter are in full swing. Shopping, preparing food and festive decorations, blessing food and then celebrating together. And let’s not forget Easter Monday, which this year, in combination with April Fool’s Day, may provide the pretext for some hilarious and much watered- down jokes!
We are well acquainted with Polish Easter traditions, which are intertwined with religious rituals. However, not everyone knows that many of them date back to pagan times, such Easter eggs, sprinkled eggs and Śmigus-dyngus, so popular with children.
Easter customs of our neighbours
While learning languages, interpreters learn about the cultures and traditions of many countries. However, I think that not one technical, sworn or consecutive interpreter may be surprised by the customs described below.
In some regions of Europe, especially in the Scandinavian and Baltic countries, Easter celebrations are associated with traditions related to fire. For example, in Finland and the south-western part of Sweden, bonfires are lit during Easter to ward off evil spirits. In Sweden, children dress up as Easter witches and go from door to door, exchanging drawings for sweets. In Denmark, on the other hand, large bonfires are lit during Easter to celebrate the arrival of spring and to ward off evil witches.
These unique and mystical traditions add a fascinating element to the Easter celebrations in these regions.
Many readers may associate Paska, the traditional Ukrainian yeast cake, as an important Easter symbol on local tables, but not everyone knows that in Ukraine, Easter celebrations traditionally extend into the following week and it is also a time to commemorate the dead. Families bring baskets of food and gifts to the cemeteries to leave on the graves of their loved ones. This custom is combined with a religious ceremony and the graves are blessed by a priest. Each region and village has its own day for this ceremony, but it usually falls within one week after Easter Sunday, often on the first Sunday after Orthodox Easter.
Unusual Easter Customs in the World
There are even more unusual Easter traditions around the world. Bermuda, for example, hosts an annual ‘Good Friday Kite Festival’. Its participants gather to showcase, test and view homemade Bermuda kites that fill the sky with their colourful and traditional designs, creating a festive atmosphere. The event includes various activities for visitors of all ages, such as historical games, an Easter egg hunt and local entertainment performances.
In the city of Antigua in central Guatemala, the streets are covered with colourful carpets in preparation for the procession taking place on Good Friday. The long carpets are made of flowers, coloured sawdust, vegetables, fruit and sand. Often, artists create unusual images on these carpets, ranging from religious themes to Guatemalan history and Mayan tribal traditions.
Unlike the colourful Easter eggs found in many other countries, the Orthodox Church believers in Greece dye all their Easter eggs red, which symbolises the blood of Christ. One has to be very creative there, creating only red Easter eggs – getting different shades, coming up with intricate designs, etc.
On Easter Monday in the town of Haux in southern France, a giant omelette is served every year in the town’s main square. More than 5 000 eggs are used to prepare it and up to 1 000 people are served. According to legend, when Napoleon and his army were travelling through the area, they stopped in a small town and ate omelettes. The French leader liked it so much that he ordered the locals to collect the eggs and prepare a giant omelette for his army the next day.
As you can see from this brief summary, Easter does not only involve bunny races, as in the USA, or the search for chocolate eggs by children, as is known, for example, from the UK. All these traditions, whether in Poland, Europe or around the world, highlight the richness of cultural diversity and human experience. Easter is not only a religious time, but also a celebration of life, joy and togetherness. No matter where Easter is celebrated, it is worth appreciating and honouring these unique customs that shape who we are as people. Ways to learn about these customs are certainly to learn the language, to travel and to learn about other countries through their literature, art and cinema, which we strongly encourage you to do on the occasion of the holidays!