Easter Across the Globe

What's the difference between the Easter bunny and Santa Clause?
Santa has to travel the entire globe in one night and the Easter bunny only visits a few nations.

Like most holidays, Easter is celebrated with different traditions in different countries. However, there is more distinction between traditions with this holiday than with more secularized ones like Christmas. While many may think that all people dye eggs and search for baskets on Easter morning, reality is far different. Yes, the Easter bunny does visit many homes in the northern hemisphere, but his presence is far more important in the United States than any other country.

Take the traditions of France, for instance, who do set out chocolate eggs for the children to eat, but instead of waiting ofr the Easter bunny to arrive, they wait Easter morning to hear the bells "fly back from Rome" in their gardens. This terminology is derived from the fact that the churches do not ring bells Good Friday or Holy Saturday, until Easter morning. The Easter bunny does not exist for the most part.

Then there are countries like England and Germany who do have the Easter bunny, but they he is not nearly as important to the festivities of the day. Both have "Easter fires" on Holy Saturday to burn away the end of winter and all "bad feelings". In England this is related to Judas Iscariot, and they burn fake dolls that look like him.

However, the Easter bunny does not visit Africa. In the few Christian countries that are there, the holiday is much more religious based. Everyone attends the Easter Vigil, followed by dances and songs. People engage in feasts. Gifts are not an important part of the tradition.

Mexico is similar in its importance of the religious aspect of the holiday. People do not work for the week before and the week after Easter, and a lot of time is spent with the company of friends and family. The Passion plays are very important to their traditional celebration of the holiday.

Easter may be the same holiday across the world, but the ways in which its celebrated change significantly nation to nation.