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For many people are around the world, Easter is a reverent time of religious remembrance – a time to reflect on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ of the Christian faith. While for some it’s Easter eggs, hot cross buns and colorful decorations, each country has their own unique way of celebrating this special time. GUATEMALA During Holy Week in southern areas of Guatemala, the locals prepare for Good Friday by covering the streets in colourful carpets made out of flowers, fruits, vegetables and sawdust! Each carpet tells a story from Guatemalan and Mayan religious history. On Good Friday, a procession of floats or “andas” is carried along these carpets. On these floats are statues of Jesus and Mary and they are so heavy, each andas needs to be carried by between 50-100 people. By the afternoon of Good Friday, the entire city, including the carpets that took weeks to make, are draped in black. Black crepe paper is hung on buildings and trees and people walk through the streets wearing dark clothing and burning incense. The color returns for Easter Sunday with music, dancing and fireworks heard throughout the city. NEW ZEALAND In New Zealand, Easter Bunnies aren’t adored like they are in other places around the world. In fact, when rabbits were introduced to the island nation, they multiplied like, well, rabbits. They were devastating to crops and the food left for livestock and were quickly labelled a pest. So, come Easter time, in the city of Otago on New Zealand’s South Island, instead of hunting Easter eggs, the locals hunt rabbits – with guns. Sorry kids, you have to be an adult to take part, but instead of chocolate, the winner gets a trophy and $NZD 3500. JAMACIA While many Western countries enjoy hot cross buns leading up to Easter, in Jamaica, they do things a little differently. Instead of the traditional sweet hot cross bun we would normally eat, Jamaican’s have created their own twist on the famous Easter treat and added cheese! That’s right, the Easter Bun and Cheese is a staple in Jamaican Easter celebrations. On Holy Thursday, the night before Good Friday, many older Jamaicans perform an Easter tradition known as “egg setting”. An egg white is dropped into a glass of water and left overnight. By Good Friday, it’s said that the person who set the egg can see their future based on the patterns in the egg white. Good Friday is a solemn occasion as it marks the death of Jesus. Local tradition says that if the physic nut tree is cut open at noon on this day, the tree’s sap oozes red representing the blood of Jesus. While Jamaicans will head to church on Good Friday wearing all black, by Easter Sunday, it turns into a celebration. Christian Jamaicans wear bright, colorful clothing for religious services before the real party begins. And for those less religious, ‘jumping’ at carnival is a big occasion. Carnival celebrates both the Easter holiday and commemorates the end of slavery. In this unique celebration of life, locals enjoy parades with floats, music, and dancing to soca music! CZECH REPUBLIC In an Easter tradition that’s sure to raise a few eyebrows, men from the Czech Republic have a very odd way of celebrating the holiday. Come Easter Monday, boys collect willow branches, braid them into whips and decorate them with ribbons. They then run through the town and whip girls for luck and fertility, all while singing a disturbing nursery rhyme about an egg. ITALY Known for its devout Catholic population, Italy has celebrated Easter in a very solemn way for centuries. Florence, on the other hand, has an odd tradition that stretches back 350 years to the time of the First Crusade. Every Easter, the Florence locals celebrate a tradition known as Scoppio del Carro. A cart is filled with fireworks, and locals dressed in 15th century clothes push the cart all the way to the Duomo. Once they arrive, the Archbishop of Florence lights the cart and a massive pyrotechnics display begins! Originally, Scoppio del Carro was performed in order to guarantee a good harvest and good business in the coming year. POLAND Instead of Easter Monday, in Poland, they celebrate ‘Wet Monday’. In this nationwide day-long water fight, Polish people try to drench others with buckets of water, hoses, and water guns! Now this tradition isn’t just to annoy other people, legend says that women who get wet will get married in the next year! ISRAEL In the city where Easter began, the Christian people on Good Friday will carry huge crosses on their backs while walking the same path Jesus did. This route is known as the 'Twelve Stations' of the Cross and walking this path is seen as a holy practice. Then on Easter Sunday they all gather at a church service at the Garden Tomb, the very place where it is believed Jesus was buried!
