By Kimberly Dijkstra
Symbolic of new beginnings and renewal, Easter is synonymous with springtime. The joyful holiday takes place on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. It is marked by pastel colors, flowers, bunnies, chicks, painted easter eggs, and candy, making Easter a fun holiday for children and families to celebrate.
Here are the top five Easter events around the US and beyond.
Egg Knocking in Louisiana
The old Easter tradition of egg knocking involves two people tapping hard-boiled eggs against each other until one egg cracks. The person whose egg remains unbroken at the end of the game is declared the winner and is said to have good luck for the rest of the year.
Also known as egg pocking, named for the French word for Easter, Pâques, the practice is a competitive sport in Louisiana. Competitors train for the tournament-style game, honing their egg-cracking skills for weeks before, and even breed their own chickens and feed them a calcium-rich diet to produce the strongest shells.
Communities all across the state participate in the egg knocking competitions, bringing families together for a bit of egg-citement.
Egg Rolling in the UK
Egg rolling is an Easter tradition in the United Kingdom that involves rolling eggs down a hill or a grassy slope. The practice, also called egg pacing, dates back to pagan times when eggs were seen as a symbol of fertility and rebirth. Popular in Scotland and Northern England, the annual competition invites participants to roll their egg closest to the finish line without breaking it.
The eggs are boiled and dyed, or painted with decorative patterns. For the past 150 years, Preston, Lancashire, has held a nationally recognized egg rolling competition every Easter Monday. Hundreds of families attend the egg-stravaganza that also features craft workshops, live music, street theatre, and more fun activities.
Notably, the White House in Washington D.C. has picked up on this tradition and invites youngsters to roll eggs on the lawn almost every Easter since 1878.
Giant Omelette Festival in Bessières, France
What better way to celebrate Easter than sharing a giant omelet cooked in the town square with a few thousand of your closest friends?
Every year, the World Fraternity of Knights of the Giant Omelette gather in the township of Bessières to whip up an omelet of 15,000 eggs. As the story goes, Napoleon Bonaparte once demanded the townspeople cook a giant omelet for his troops as they traveled through southern France. The festival commemorating that tidbit of history began in 1973.
Volunteers whip up the eggs in a 13-foot diameter pan coated with duck fat. Throw in some salt and pepper and the feast that feeds thousands is ready within 30 minutes. Surrounding the egg-ceptional culinary main event, the festival also has music, dancing, parades, and egg-cessive merriment.
The World’s Largest Easter Egg Hunt in Colorado
Every Easter, Copper Mountain, Colorado, holds what it calls the World’s Largest Easter Egg Hunt. A whopping 65,000 eggs are hidden across 2,500 acres, with different hunts organized for different age groups. Participation is free, plus there are giveaways and an Easter brunch.
Everyone will feel like a kid again at this egg-citing event.
Easter egg hunts take place all over the country! Check your local events calendar for the egg hunt nearest to you.
Easter Parade in New York City
Since the 1870s, New York City has held the annual Easter Parade and Easter Bonnet Festival. It began not only as an expression of religious observance, but as a way for the well-to-do to show off their new fashions. Over time, it became less of a religious event and more of a cultural one. The parade became cemented in American culture when Irving Berlin debuted his song “Easter Parade” in 1933.
Dressed in their Easter finery or egg-stravagant costumes, participants march up Fifth Avenue from 49th Street to 57th Street. Anyone can join the procession and pets in costumes are welcome too!
The event is often livestreamed by local network ABC7.
Other U.S. cities with Easter parades include:
New Orleans, LA