Easter

young women painting Easter eggs

Easter is a very important festival for most Christians, and for many other people it's a time to celebrate the arrival of spring, and of course eat chocolate eggs! 

Instructions

Do the preparation task first. Then read the article and do the exercises to check your understanding.

The meaning of Easter

Easter is a spring festival of new life. For Christians, it's a very important festival which marks the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and many attend special church services. Many non-Christians also have a holiday at this time, so it is a popular time for spending time with friends and family. We see lots of symbols of new life at Easter, especially eggs, chicks, flowers and rabbits. These symbols go back to ancient pagan traditions which celebrated fertility, rebirth and new growth after the long winter months.

When Easter is celebrated

The dates of Easter change from year to year, as they are based on the moon, but it's usually sometime between the end of March and the end of April. In the Christian church, Palm Sunday celebrates Jesus's arrival in Jerusalem and marks the beginning of Holy Week. In the UK, the Easter holiday weekend lasts for four days, from Good Friday to Easter Monday. 

Easter eggs

Eggs are a popular part of Easter celebrations, as they are a symbol of new life. Traditionally, people paint chicken eggs and decorate them with bright colours. Nowadays, chocolate eggs are just as popular as the traditional kind! There are many different Easter egg traditions around the world.

In the UK, as well as many other countries, lots of people take part in Easter egg hunts, and go hunting for chocolate eggs in parks and gardens. 

Egg rolling is also popular in many places. Eggs are boiled, then painted and then rolled down a hill. The challenge is to roll your egg down the hill without it breaking! There is even an annual 'Easter Egg Roll' every Easter Monday in the grounds of the White House in Washington DC.

In places like Poland and Ukraine, a special technique is used to make beautiful coloured designs on eggs, which are known as pisanki or pysanky

In some parts of Mexico, there is a tradition of filling empty eggs with confetti. When you break the egg, or cascarone, over someone's head, the colourful shower of confetti is said to bring them good luck.

Other Easter traditions

There are many other Easter traditions which don't involve any eggs at all! 

In Bermuda, for example, people fly homemade kites on Good Friday. The kite represents the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

In many places in north-western Europe, people have bonfires – big outdoor fires which symbolise the end of winter and the beginning of spring.

In Guatemala, Holy Week, or Semana Santa, is a whole week of celebrations leading up to Easter. In some towns, people decorate the streets with colourful carpets, made of coloured sawdust, ready for a religious procession on Good Friday.

Norway has many Easter traditions, but one of them has nothing to do with religion, spring or chocolate eggs – Easter crime! Many Norwegians spend the Easter weekend reading crime novels or watching crime films and series.

Happy Easter!

So, there are many different ways that Easter is celebrated across the world. While some Easter traditions focus on the religious part of the festival, some celebrate the arrival of spring and others are mostly about having fun and eating chocolate eggs. Happy Easter!

Discussion

Is Easter celebrated where you live?

Average: 3.4 (19 votes)
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Comments

Profile picture for user FlowerQueen

Submitted by FlowerQueen on Tue, 11/15/2022 - 20:48

Hi!
Yes, in Germany it is celebrated. Our Easter Holidays are also for 2 weeks.
I love chocolate, that's why I like Easter:)
FlowerQueen ~♡

Submitted by faysun on Tue, 08/02/2022 - 11:19

In my country Easter is not prevalent.But I love celebrate Easter:)

Submitted by PolinaLogvinenko on Tue, 06/28/2022 - 10:40

Yes, we celebrate Easten in Russia. People usually paint and decorate eggs.

Submitted by Adek1234 on Mon, 04/11/2022 - 15:43

Yes, in Poland we celebrate Easter. I eat eggs with my family
Profile picture for user Cfvdv

Submitted by Cfvdv on Fri, 06/11/2021 - 12:02

Yes, here in my country the shops are very full with Easter Eggs too. And here it's also super normally someone give an Easter Egg as a present in the days of Easter. But we don't have the competitions.

Submitted by juliasp82 on Sun, 04/19/2020 - 11:51

In Poland we celebrated Easter. Easter is one of the most important Christian holidays.

Submitted by JK on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 18:05

Yes, in my country (Poland) Easter is celebrated.

Submitted by PaulaS on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 10:08

Easter is celebrated in Poland. In my country I also paint Easter eggs. On Silent Saturday you go to church and bless the basket of food that you eat the next day for Easter breakfast. The basket usually contains salt, horseradish, eggs, sausage and bread. On Easter Monday it is a tradition to pour water.

Submitted by chudofluor on Tue, 04/14/2020 - 14:10

Easter is a great religious holiday. Before Easter, you should go through a seven-week fast in order to cleanse yourself. Believers believe that this is a celebration of the renewal of all nature and the cleansing of sins. Preparation for the holiday begins a week before it, delicious cakes are baked, eggs are painted in different colors.

Submitted by Vladlenovna on Tue, 04/14/2020 - 12:33

Easter is one of the most important Christian holidays. The exact date of the holiday changes from year to year but it usually falls on April. On Saturday children dye Easter eggs, which are called “pysankas”. In the evening people go to church for the Easter mass, which lasts all night. Sunday is the actual day of Easter. People visit each other on this day and exchange colourful “pysankas”.
Profile picture for user Batgirl

Submitted by Batgirl on Fri, 10/05/2018 - 16:37

In Ukraine, we celebrate Easter with decorating our houses with colored eggs. There is also a tradition to paint empty eggs, which are called "pisanki". People also go to church and after that share painted eggs and easter- cakes with each other.
Profile picture for user armando

Submitted by armando on Mon, 03/26/2018 - 11:36

No, no one celebrates easter in my country

Submitted by slmp on Fri, 03/16/2018 - 21:06

Easter is celebrated in my country, as well, but we have just a few days off from school and traditionally it is considered to be quite religious festival. Not everybody celebrate it the same way, but usually people eat Easter eggs and spend time with their families. it is also some kind of sign of spring coming soon when it starts to be a little warmer compared to our weather conditions in the winter time.
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