Easter in Britain

Let's have a look on how Easter is celebrated in Britain. Can you find any similarities / differences with the Greek Easter celebrations???

In the UK Easter is one of the major Christian 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.

Maundy Thursday is the Thursday before Easter. In Britain, the 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. 

BBC: Queen distributes Maundy coins 

Maundy Thursday is followed by Good Friday. It is celebrated 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."

Easter hot cross buns recipe

On Easter Sunday, which is the Christian feast of the 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.  

A traditional way of breaking the Lenten fast is to 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.

The day after Easter Sunday is known as Easter Monday. It 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.

Source: http://www.easterbunnys.net/britisheaster.htm