Happy Easter

festivals of the year. Easter eggs, Easter bunny and sending

Easter cards are traditions not only in Britain.

It is preceded by forty days of Lent. Shrove Tuesday, also called Pancake Day, is the last day before the period of fasting which starts on Ash Wednesday.
The Sunday before Easter is called Palm Sunday. This is the begining of Holy Week.

Queen takes part in the Ceremony of the Royal Maundy.

This involves the distribution of Maundy Money to deserving senior citizens (one man and one woman for each year of the sovereign's age), usually chosen for having done service to their community. They receive ceremonial red and white purses which contain coins made especially for the occasion. The white purse contains one coin for each year of the monarch's reign. The red purse contains money in place of other gifts that used to be given to the poor.

as a bank holiday, when people do not go to

work. Britons eat the so called hot cross buns containing currants and marked with a cross.
An old rhyme was often sung by children awaiting their sugary treat:

Hot cross buns, hot cross buns, one a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns.
If you do not like them, give them to your sons, one a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns.

Resurrection of Jesus, people eat Easter eggs. Many families gather

together at dinner and organize egg hunts. Children have a lot of fun looking for dyed eggs hidden in the house and in the garden. 

eat some simnel cake. These are raised cakes, with a

crust made of fine flour and water, coloured

yellow with saffron, and filled with a very rich plum-cake, with plenty of candied lemon peel, and dried fruits.

is also a bank holiday in the UK. In some

areas "egg rolling" is still popular today. People take the eggs to the top of a hill and roll them down. The first egg to get to the foot of that hill is the winner.

for getting married, that may be why people often dress

up for Easter. Women would make and wear special Easter bonnets - decorated with flowers and ribbons. Even today in Battersea in London there is a special Easter Parade, where hand-made bonnets are shown off.

been a symbol of fertility.The Easter bunny (rabbit) however may

actually be an Easter hare. The hare was allegedly a companion of the ancient Moon goddess and of Eostre.
Strangely the bunny as an Easter symbol seems to have it's origins in Germany, where it was first mentioned in German writings in the 16th Century. The first edible Easter bunnies appeared in Germany during the early 1800s, they were made of pastry and sugar.
In the UK children believe that if they are good the "Easter Bunny " will leave (chocolate) eggs for them.

In ancient times, the egg was a symbol of fertility

and new beginnings. Christians adopted this to represent their Saviour's resurrection.
The tradition of colouring eggs in bright colours - representing the sunlight of spring - goes back to the Middle Ages and is still an important custom for many Christians. In Germany it's traditional to paint eggs green and eat them on Maundy Thursday while in Greek and Slavic cultures eggs are dyed red as a symbol of the blood of Christ.
As time has gone on, the decoration has become more elaborate with colourful patterns, images of flora and fauna, and in some cases delicate gold and silver leaf details. The most famous and ornate of Easter eggs must be the jewelled and enamelled eggs that Fabergé was commissioned to make for the Russian tsars.

among British people to eat yummy hams, in order to

commemorate the Easter Sunday.

give exclusive Morris dance performances. This trend of holding dances

is not new; rather it is a century old tradition.

dance which is also performed in other English-speaking countries such

as the USA and Australia. The roots of morris dancing seem to be very old, probably dating back to the Middle Ages.
In the dance men dress up in costumes with hats and ribbons and bells around their ankles. They dance through the streets and one man often carries an

inflated pigs bladder on the end of a stick. He will run up to young women in the street and hit them over the head with the pigs bladder, this is supposed to be lucky (men)!

is of conducting pancake race on every Shrove Tuesday. It

is an event that is celebrated on a large scale and people have a real gala time enjoying this unique day also addressed as Pancake Tuesday.

are placed on the altar and these gorgeous flowers are

also displayed on the graveyard.

conducted at Battersea Park in London is a very popular

one.