Easter is one of the biggest spring holidays and a reason for celebration in many countries. Some of us Google Moderators honor this holiday and will be celebrating very soon. To share our excitement with you, we wanted to explain how Easter traditions differ in a few different countries.
1. Brazil
** @FelipePK :**Easter in Brazil is celebrated in different ways depending on the region of the country. The traditions we have in the State of São Paulo are the so-called Burning of Judas and exchanging chocolate eggs.
The Burning of Judas is an inheritance left by the Portuguese and it has been performed since Brazil was a Portuguese protectorate. It’s a Catholic and Orthodox tradition always held on Holy Saturday. It consists of beating a life-size doll, filled with sawdust and newspapers, representing Judas—the man who betrayed Jesus—through the city streets, and eventually setting it on fire.
However, the most common and delicious Easter tradition in Brazil is related to chocolate eggs. People give chocolate eggs to each other and organise egg hunts for the children. I remember when I was in elementary school, I’d go looking for eggs hidden inside and outside the building, and there would be little rabbit footprints indicating where to go.
There are many variations of the chocolate Easter eggs to fit every taste. They come in different sizes and are usually filled with bonbons or toys. You can find eggs produced by famous chocolate brands or make them at home. One famous type of Easter egg is the Ovos de Páscoa de Colher, which is just a half of a chocolate egg, filled with different kinds of cream and eaten with a spoon.
2. Italy
** @Sorbe :**To us, Easter has a strong religious element, but it also brings a lot of joy to young and old. Chocolate eggs containing surprises and chocolate rabbits symbolizing the arrival of spring are on display in every pastry shop, putting people in a good mood.
There are two important moments that come before Easter. The first one is called The Sunday of the Palms and it always takes place on the Sunday before Easter. On this day, according to tradition, people bring olive branches or a woven palm leaf to the church to have them blessed and then keep them at home. The other important event is the Via Crucis, organized on the weekend before Easter. It’s a procession, divided into 14 stages, where participants recite prayers and reflect on the moments before Jesus’s crucifixion.
Easter Day instead is full of fun and food. Dishes vary from region to region, but the dessert that is present on every family’s table is the Easter dove. This cake is prepared and eaten exclusively during the Easter period. It has the shape of a dove and is prepared in a very similar way to that of the Christmas panettone cake.
My favorite part of this holiday are the gatherings with friends and family. An old Italian saying goes, “Christmas with the parents, Easter with whomever you want,” and that’s why, if the weather is nice, we organize picnics out of town on the day after Easter, called Pasquetta.
3. Hungary
** @Petra_M :**Easter is the most important religious celebration in Hungary. It’s a three-day holiday, starting with Good Friday—the day of Jesus’s crucifixion—on which devout Catholics fast.
On Saturday morning, families go to church with huge baskets of food, including boiled eggs, ham, scones, lamb, and wine, to have it blessed by the priest. Then, all family members gather at one place and eat together. The meaning behind this is that in case of difficulties in life, we should always remember and turn to our families.
Another tradition on this day is the coloring of Easter eggs, which is done only by the girls. In the old times, they used onion skin to make the eggs red-brown and herb leaves to decorate them. The red color represents salvation and new life. However, most families today use many different colors.
Easter Sunday is the most interesting day of this holiday for me. Boys and men recite Easter-themed poems to girls and women and then throw water on them in a tradition called locsolkodás. This way they wish them good health, while the legend says that women sprinkled with water on Easter will stay young and beautiful in the next year. In return, girls give colored eggs to the boys.
Nowadays, we switched from water to perfume, but in Hollókő village people still keep the old tradition. They even organise an annual festival and wear traditional clothes.
4. Croatia
** @KatyaL :**In Croatia, Easter celebrations continue for a whole week, which locals consider the holiest throughout the year. In most regions of the country, people usually wear traditional costumes and sing ancient hymns from the Bible. In some villages, they also keep the traditions of shooting with an old kubura pistol and making huge bonfires, called kres. In the northern part of Dalmatia and also in Konavle, people make klepetaljke noisemakers and use them while dancing.
Croatians also decorate eggs, called pisance, and organise egg fights. The egg fight is a very famous Easter competition to see whose boiled egg is the hardest. To play, you tap your egg against others’ until one cracks. The one who cracks the other person’s egg shell wins the game and everyone says that the winner will be very healthy throughout the whole year. To make it funnier, people make decorated eggs from wood or cement to win. Another tradition in Croatia is to decorate branches with ribbons, crosses, and flowers, and make wreaths which later on they take to the church to be blessed.
Easter breakfast is very special. Croatians usually prepare traditional bread, called pinca or sirnica, made with yeast, butter, eggs, rum, and some dried fruits or chocolate chips. Pinca is decorated with a small cross on top.
5. Bulgaria
** @IrrPavlova :**Egg coloring is one of the most important Easter traditions in Bulgaria. We color the first egg red and rub it in children’s cheeks and forehead to wish them health and happiness.
Experimenting with different coloring techniques is something I look forward to every Easter. One of my favorites is using silicon bands to paint the eggs in several colors. I wrap a silicon band tightly around the boiled egg so that it stays in place, and dip the egg in different cups of paint. Once it’s dry, I take off the band. The result is an egg with many colorful sides!
There’s another technique with silicon bands, but this time I use them only to hold lace (yes, lace!) around the boiled egg. I dip the egg in my preferred color and wait for it to dry before removing the band and lace. The patterns that come out are wonderfully delicate.
My third favorite way to color Easter eggs is the most unusual. Once the eggs are boiled, I gently crush their shells with a spoon, put them each in separate cups of paint, and leave them in the fridge for about 2-3 hours. After that, I just peel off the shells completely. This technique doesn’t allow me to fight with the eggs like we traditionally do, but I end up with beautifully decorated eggs to put around my strongest, winning egg boryak.
6.Denmark
** @MortenSI :**In Denmark Easter is all about the children. Sure the holiday ties to the crucifiction and resurrection of Jesus Christ and is celebrated by everyone, but it’s really a time when the kids are a little extra spoiled.
Just like for Christmas, families decorate their homes, but this time of year green and yellow are dominant colors and everything is covered in ornamental feathers and eggs. Families gather around the table to paint eggs in different patterns for decoration. Like in many other countries, adults hide chocolate eggs around the house or yard for the children to find. The egg hunt is the highlight of Easter for many children around Denmark.
Another Danish Easter tradition is for the children to send out *gækkebreve—*snowdrop letters—to their friends and family. To make a gækkebrev, you’ll need to take a piece of paper, fold it diagonally a couple of times, and cut shapes into it. When unfolded, the shapes will be mirrored onto all sides and display a beautiful pattern. To complete the letter, you have to write a nursery rhyme on it, telling the recipient to guess who the sender is. The only clue is a signature of dots corresponding to the number of letters in your name. If the recipient fails to guess the sender’s identify, they will have to hand over a chocolate egg.
Do you celebrate Easter? Tell us about your traditions in the comments below.