Easter around the world

Easter
Easter is the oldest and the most important celebration of the Christian Church.
Jesus was crucified on a Friday. This day is now called Good Friday.
Easter celebrates Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead on Easter Sunday.

Easter
Easter is celebrated around the world as a religious holiday. But there are also many other traditions for Easter that are not religious.
Let’s read about what happens around the world for Easter.

In Ukraine…
On Easter Sunday the special Easter food is blessed at the church. After the Easter service they give Easter greetings to their friends and exchange Easter eggs. Then they go home and enjoy a delicious meal of roast suckling pigs, sausage, smoked meat and Easter cakes.

In the
United States…
Some children attend an Easter Egg Roll, a game of rolling their decorated eggs down a grassy hill. The most famous Easter Egg Roll is at the White House, the home of the President.
Christians celebrate Easter by going to church and having a family dinner together.

In Spain…
People in Spain celebrate Easter the whole week before Easter. It is called Holy Week.
Many towns in Spain celebrate Easter with a parade of floats. Each float pictures something from Jesus’ life. Sometimes as many as 40 or 50 people carry these floats through the streets.

In Germany…
A town in Germany called Oberammergau
has a very famous Easter play, called the Passion Play. It is performed every 10 years to thank God for his help in saving their city from a terrible plague. The play is about the events of Jesus’ life and is 6 hours long!

In Ethiopia…
In Ethiopia they have an Easter service that starts at 8 at night and goes until 3 in the morning. Many people wear special white clothes. For Easter breakfast they eat “dabo” sour-dough bread, and for Easter dinner they eat lamb stew and a type of sour-dough pancake called “injera.”

In the
United Kingdom…
On Good Friday, the Friday before Easter, many churches have special services to remember Jesus’ death on a cross.
Hot Cross Buns are very popular at Easter. They are decorated with a “cross” of frosting.
They also have Egg Rolling competitions. Children try to roll their eggs down a hill without breaking them.

In Poland…
People bring their Blessing Basket to church to be blessed. It has colored eggs, bread, cake, and sausages. Families eat their blessed food for Easter dinner.
Dyngus Day is celebrated on the Monday after Easter. On this day boys sprinkle girls with water or perfume.

In Australia…
Egg-Knocking Game
Two partners take turns tapping their partner's egg with their own egg. The first egg to crack loses and the winner goes on to challenge other winners until there is only one egg left.
They use bilbies in place of bunnies as a symbol of Easter.
Bilbies

In Egypt…
During Holy Week, people go to church every day. On Saturday night they have a service that lasts until 3 a.m. On Easter morning bells are rung to proclaim Christ's resurrection, and there is a procession with candles.
Families celebrate together with an Easter dinner.

Questions for you…
What are the Easter traditions in your country?
How will you and your family celebrate Easter?
What country has the most interesting religious celebration?
What Easter tradition do you like?