Easter in the UK
Chocolate eggs, sweet bread rolls and dancing…
Like all countries, the UK has its own set of strange and funny customs. At Easter us Brits like to eat and dance.
All about the EGGS
The most famous tradition is to give and receive Easter eggs. Us Brits wolf down millions of chocolate eggs, with each child eating 8.8 on average. The King of the Easter is the Cadbury’s Crème Egg, of which they make more than 500 million every year – that’s a lot of gooey, sugary-ness!
The tradition of eggs dates all the way back to early 1800s Europe, but the first, hollow egg in the modern style, was made in 1873. Easter egg hunts are also popular and may or may not contain a person dressed as a giant bunny. Eggs are hidden around the house or garden and children have to find as many eggs as possible (sugar + excited children is always a good combination).
Hot Cross Buns
Another Easter favourite for us Brits are Hot Cross Buns. They are small, sweet bread rolls, stuffed full of raisins. They have a cross on top of them, hence the name. I’d highly recommend them slathered in butter with a cup of tea. The perfect mid-morning treat.
Dance, dance, dance
One, well two, of the stranger things you’ll see in the UK at Easter are Morris dancers and Maypole dancers.
Morris dancers are perhaps one of the stranger looking people you’ll see in the UK. Dressed all in white, with bells and handkerchiefs, they dance and jangle their bells. It’s quite a sight!
Maypole dancers have giant ribbons attached to the top of a large pole and dance in patterns, slowly wrapping the ribbons round the pole. Both of these types of dances normally take place in town and village centres, with crowds watching.
Lamb
Nothing says Easter Sunday like a lamb roast with all the trimmings. Potatoes, mashed and roasted, carrots, cabbage all covered with delicious gravy. Let’s just hope you have room after all that chocolate.
Which Easter tradition would you most like to try?
Vocabulary
- wolf down (phrasal verb) – to eat as fast as possible
- gooey (adjective) – soft and sticky
- stuffed full (adjective) – to be full
- to slather (informal verb) – to thickly spread or smear a substance
- to jangle (verb) – to make a noise using a metal object
- all the trimmings (phrase) – extra things added to make something more special
Ben
