Top 22 Easter Sunday Facts
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Easter, also known as Resurrection Sunday or Pascha, is a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. However, over time, it has evolved and adopted many different aspects from different cultures and religions. With that in mind, check out the top 22 Easter Sunday facts.
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22. Pretzels and Easter
You might be surprised, but pretzels are actually linked with Easter Sunday. The reason is because the twists of the pretzel are supposed to represent crossed arms in prayer.[1]Sunday School Kids – Legend of the Pretzel Lent Activity Sounds like just another reason to eat tasty pretzels to me!
21. Tallest Easter Egg
Eating Easter eggs on Easter Sunday is like a rite of passage. However, you might be used to ones that are the size of real eggs. However, in 2011 in Italy, they made the tallest Easter chocolate egg ever. It stood a whopping 34 feet tall and weighed an astounding 15,800 pounds![2]list25 – 25 Funny, Curious And Interesting Facts About Easter You May Not Know
20. New Clothes
It is a common practice to buy new clothes for Easter Sunday. However, this tradition actually comes from a superstition dating back to the mid-1800s in New York. Back then, people believed that by wearing new clothes on Easter it would bring you good luck for the rest of the year.[3]Time – Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Easter
19. Pysanka
Most people have painted eggs for Easter. However, this tradition actually originates from the Ukraine where it is called pysanka.[4]Wonderopolis – Can Easter Eggs Be Art? There they use dyes and wax to color the eggs.
18. Hot Potato
Churches used to hold a tradition each Easter Sunday where they would play a game with hard boiled eggs that was similar to hot potato. The game would start with a priest tossing a hard-boiled egg to one of the choir boys. They would then proceed to toss the egg between themselves. Whoever was the last one to be holding the egg when it was 12 o’clock, would be the winner and to keep the egg.[5]Tipsy – 16 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT EASTER
17. The Angol-Saxons and Eastre
Like many Christian holidays, Easter Sunday got its name from older religions. In the case of Easter, it came from the Anglo-Saxon goddess “Eastre” who was symbolized by the hare and the egg.[6]kitchen project – The Easter Bunny and his Eggs How does a Rabbit lay Eggs?
16. Americans Eat A Lot of Jelly Beans
Jelly Beans are one of the most popular candies on Easter Sunday. In fact, in the United States, Americans eat around 16 million of them just on this day alone! That’s so many jelly beans that it would circle the globe 3 times.[7]96.1 KISSFM – 10 Random Easter Facts
15. The Easter Sunday Egg Symbol
Easter Eggs and Easter go hand in hand. However, you may wonder why. The reason is because Easter eggs actually symbolize new life, celebration and joy, all things that are reflected in the Christian holiday and the rebirth of Jesus.[8]BBC – Why do we have Easter eggs and the Easter bunny?
14. How Much Do We Spend on Easter Sunday
Easter Sunday is not just a big religious holiday. In fact, it is also a big retail holiday as well. For example, in the US, Americans spend around $14.7 billion on just this holiday alone.[9]NRF – Easter spending expected to be second highest in NRF survey history
13. Easter Sunday Chocolates and Candies
Candies and chocolates are the most popular edible gifts that you can give on Easter Sunday. However, you might be surprised just how many are made each year for the holiday. In fact, in the United States, there are 700 million Peeps, 91.4 billion eggs, and 90 million chocolate bunnies made each year for Easter Sunday.[10]B98.5 – EASTER FACTS YOU MAY NOT KNOW
12. Easter Sunday Bunnies
Chocolate Easter bunnies are one of the most popular chocolates you can get for Easter Sunday. However, it seems that everyone has their preferences with how they eat it. Some people prefer to eat the tail first, others the feet, and others the ears. In the US, 67% of people start with the ears, 5% with the feet, and 4% with the tail.[11]Cat Country – WHICH PART OF THE CHOCOLATE BUNNY DO YOU EAT FIRST? EARS, TAIL OR FEET?
11. Against the Law
It used to be quite a popular tradition to dye chicks on Easter in different colors in order to celebrate the holiday. Today about ½ of the states in the US have actually banned this practice. However, Florida actually overturned their law on dyeing chicks. They changed the law in order to make it illegal to dye any type of animal.[12]The New York Times – Nobody Minds Dyeing the Egg, but the Chicken Is Another Story
10. Not Widely Recognized
Good Friday is a Christian holiday remembering the crucifixion of Jesus. It is the beginning of the Easter holiday which culminates in Easter Sunday. However, not every state actually recognizes this day as an official holiday. In fact, only 12 states officially recognize it.[13]BNEC – 10 Facts about Easter
9. Easter Sunday Egg Roll
In the United States, one of the most popular and famous Easter Sunday traditions is the White House Easter Egg Roll. On this day, children can visit the White House and run around the yard searching for hidden Easter eggs. This tradition has actually been around for quite a while. In fact, it was started by President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1878![14]Whitehouse.gov – First Lady Melania Trump Announces 2019 White House Easter Egg Roll
8. Second Biggest Candy Holiday
Finding and eating candy and chocolate is one of the most popular things to do for kids and adults alike on Easter Sunday. In fact, it is so popular that it is actually the second biggest candy consuming holiday after Halloween![15]Multyprep – 19 Fun Facts About Easter You Probably Didn’t Realize
7. German Origins
The modern day traditions of Easter in the United States actually have German origins. When German immigrants first started arriving in the US in the 1700s, they brought along their tradition of the egg laying bunny called “Osterhase” or “Oschter Haws”. Traditionally, children would make nests for the rabbit it place its colored eggs in. Over time, the tradition spread across the US and expanded to include candies and chocolate instead of just eggs and baskets instead of nests.[16]Time – What’s the Origin of the Easter Bunny?
6. Peeps
When you think of Easter you might automatically think of chocolate. However, Americans also really love Peeps. In fact, it is the most popular none chocolate candy on Easter Sunday with over 700 million consumed each year during the holiday.[17]Infoplease – Sweet Easter Facts
5. Biggest Easter Sunday Egg Hunt
Florida is not just famous for stopping the dyeing of all animals on Easter. It is also famous for holding the largest Easter egg hunt in the country! In fact, there are over 9,700 children and over 500,000 eggs.[18]Austin Flyer – Easter
4. Cadbury Crème Egg
Cadbury Crème Eggs are a popular Easter Sunday treat. Every year, worker sin Birmingham make over 1.5 million of them to celebrate the holiday.[19]Life! Death! Prizes! – 14 delicious facts about Cadbury Creme Eggs
3. Why Dye Red?
It is popular to dye eggs red on Easter Sunday. However, you might wonder why. According to Eastern and Orthodox Christians, originally they did this in order to symbolize the blood of Jesus. This idea eventually spread to include many other colors to celebrate springtime.[20]House Beautiful – 15 Interesting Things You Never Knew About Easter
2. Easter Sunday Egg Tradition
Giving eggs for Easter Sunday actually dates a long time before the holiday officially started. Originally, giving eggs to people was actually considered a symbol of rebirth for many cultures around the world.[21]Huffpost – Easter Eggs: History, Origin, Symbolism And Traditions This idea was then also adopted by Christians on Easter Sunday.
1. Christian Holiday and Easter Sunday
Today, Easter is mainly a Christian holiday. It actually is supposed to be a celebration of the resurrection of Christ. In addition, it is one of the most important Christian holidays as well as the oldest one in the religion.[22]BBC – Easter day
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