There are many different holidays throughout the year, with even more different and unique ways to celebrate each one. A recent holiday that has passed is Easter, a commonly known and celebrated holiday. Many people celebrate Easter by having an Easter breakfast as well as an egg hunt. There is, however, more to the traditional and religious holiday.

For example, there is a Resurrection Mass in the morning. My family, along with every other Polish family always make a traditional Easter basket with six key foods. Each one is necessary in order to represent certain aspects of Easter. The foods are salt, eggs, bread, lamb, horseradish, ham, and some type of cake. The basket is traditionally lined with a white linen or lace napkin and decorated with sprigs of boxwood. Many people go all out when creating their baskets, and they’re all very well made.

These baskets are blessed in the church on Holy Saturday, and on Sunday the food inside is eaten for breakfast after the mass. Baskets aren’t the only tradition, however. There are also colorful Easter palms made of different brightly colored plants. Some are more natural, containing (the weird white fuzzy thing), while others are the more common bright ones. These are blessed as well, and looking around the church to see all the differently designed ones is always a fun thing to do.

Another tradition is painting Easter eggs with bright colors. There are many different techniques used to decorate them; some simply dye them (in food-safe dye), while others draw out designs in wax or other forms to make them pop. When peeling the eggs to eat, there’s a game some people play to make it more fun. Two people bash two eggs against each other, and whichever one doesn’t crack is the winner. This isn’t technically a tradition, but so many people do it anyway because it’s entertaining. Many of these traditions are very fun, as Easter is meant to be a celebration.

There are traditions for the days before and the day after as well. For example, the Monday after Easter is known in Poland (and Polish communities) as ‘Smingus Dyngus’, or Wet Monday. On this day, people splash each other with water. It’s a very fun thing to do unless of course, you’re the one being drenched.