With Easter weekend approaching and most of us getting the benefits of a long weekend off work, the question arises of how to spend the Spring Bank Holiday holiday? Of course, there’s the obligatory family lunches and societal expectations to go out with friends, BUT we’ve found some international Easter traditions that might just get you off the hook…
This one we are definitely adopting…
In Norway, it is a common tradition to read crime novels during the Easter holiday season. This tradition is known as “påskekrim” or “Easter crime”. The tradition started in the early 1900s when a new crime novel was advertised on the front page of a newspaper on Palm Sunday, which caused readers to believe the story was real. Once the book was released and the truth known, its sales benefited from the stunt. This led to an increase in crime novels being published and marketed during Easter.
One theory is that the long Easter holiday provides an opportunity for people to relax and read for leisure, which they wouldn’t usually have time to do.
POV: Googling ‘last minute Eurostar tickets’…
The Bessières Giant Easter Omelette is a unique and beloved Easter tradition in Bessières, a small town in southwestern France.
Legend has it that during Napoleon’s reign, he and his army once stopped in Bessières and were served an omelette made from the eggs of the local farms. Napoleon enjoyed the dish so much that he ordered the townspeople to gather all the eggs in the village and prepare a giant omelette for his army. Since then, the townspeople have continued the tradition every year on Easter Monday, making a giant omelette in the town square and sharing it with the community.
Those lucky Germans…
In Germany, nightclubs are closed on Good Friday due to a law known as the “Dancing Ban” or “Tanzverbot” in German. This law prohibits certain activities, including dancing and loud music, on certain religious holidays, including Good Friday. The Dancing Ban is rooted in Germany’s Christian heritage and is seen as a way to respect the religious significance of Good Friday. The law varies by state in Germany, with some states having stricter regulations than others. In some states, the ban only applies to certain hours of the day, while in others, it is in place for the entire day.
An excuse not to pluck our eyebrows?
In Finland, there is a tradition of celebrating Easter with the “Easter Witch” or “Pääsiäisnoita” in Finnish. During the Easter Witch tradition, children dress up as witches and go door-to-door in their neighborhoods, carrying decorated willow twigs and exchanging them for candy or coins. The Easter Witch tradition is a way to celebrate the arrival of spring and the Easter season.
Our Easter activities
So there we have it, this year we will be celebrating a European inspired Easter…by which we mean we will be entering full goblin mode, refusing to go out on Friday night, and instead staying in and reading crime novels while eating an enormous omelette (and enough Easter eggs to also feed a small French town).
Seasons greetings!!!!
