The 5 Best Easter Traditions From Around The World
Easter is a holiday that means a lot of different things to a lot of different people and different traditions from around the world are super interesting to take a look at.
While for many Australians, Easter is just an excuse to find chocolate eggs in our gardens, there’s a lot of places around the world that find completely different ways to celebrate. Don’t know what Easter looks like around the world? Well we do because we looked, and it’s wild! Cultural festivities range from reading crime novels to flying kites to eating gigantic omelettes.
Check out our favourite Easter traditions below:
#1 Giant omelette
Yep, the town of Haux in France gets together to make a giant omelette on Easter Sunday. Out of chicken eggs though, not Easter eggs. Four thousand and five-hundred chicken eggs to be exact, feeding over 1000 people in the town. Phew!
The tradition of making the big arse omelette originates from a time when Napolean Bonaparte and his army were travelling through the town of Haux back in the 17th century. The town got all of its eggs together to make the crew a delicious omelette. Napolean was so impressed that he decided to visit again, this time with the town of Haux surprising him with a very, very large omelette.
Bigger is best!
#2 Paaske krim
At Easter time, the Norwegians take part in a very unique cultural tradition. And no, it’s not a special meal, parade or observance. It’s just the act of reading crime novels. Truly. The pastime is called Paaske krim, meaning Easter Crime.
It is said to have originated from an advertising campaign in the ’20s for a book named Bergenstoget plyndret i natt or Bergen Looted During The Night. The day before Palm Sunday in 1923, the author’s brother took out a front page spread to promote the book, with the headline just the title of the book with a tiny ad beneath it. Everyone thought it was real news, so it caused a total flurry. When they realised it wasn’t, everyone spent the weekend reading anyway to see what the fuss was about.
Hence, Paaske krim was born.
#3 Smigus-Dyngus
Poland’s Easter tradition is one you may need a raincoat for. On Easter Monday, it’s tradition for people (usually men) to hit the streets with buckets, water guns and water balloons to try and completely soak one another. It’s called Smigus-Dyngus and the origins derive from the baptism of Polish Prince Mieszko on Easter Monday in 966 AD.
#4 Kite flying
In Bermuda, kite flying is how Good Fridays are usually spent. Kites are handmade or sold in local shops and flown down at the beach, while locals eat hot cross buns and codfish cakes.
The tradition is said to have come from a British missionary who had trouble explaining the traditions of Good Friday to the Bermudians, so she flew a cross-shaped kite in an attempt to explain it in an engaging way.
#5 Dansa de la Mort
This one has to be the spookiest of the lot. Dansa de la Mort is translated to mean the ‘Dance of Death’ and is a festival held every Holy Thursday in the city of Verges, Spain. The ancient tradition kicks off with a sombre march of people dressed up in skeleton costumes, carrying scythes, ashes and clocks. After the march, a dance is performed to symbolise the “final judgement” that occurs before a soul is sent to heaven or hell.
Dansa de la Mort is known to involve the whole town of Verges, and carry on into the early hours of the morning.
Want to have a look at these traditions IRL? Book a Qantas flight here.
(Lead image: Paul Maddern/Flickr)
