This is How We Celebrate Easter in Poland

Polish people are Catholics and that is why Easter is one of the most important holidays for them. They tend to celebrate Easter more religiously than socially.

But,

That doesn’t stop Polish people from having fun on Easter with their beautiful traditions.

Easter Traditions in Poland

Easter celebrations in Poland start from Ash Wednesday, when Catholics get the cross marked on their foreheads by the priests.

They strongly believe in the ‘man coming from dust and returning to it’ concept.

1. Lent

One of the most common traditions followed to commemorate Easter is ‘Lent’.

Lent is the forty-day period during which the practitioners give up something that they love just to earn the blessing of God.

Mostly, people relate Lent with giving up food such as meat and other animal products.

After completing the forty-days of lent, the practitioner is believed to be purified of his past wrongdoings and evil. So, he may welcome Easter in a purified form.

2. Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday is celebrated a week before Easter.

On this day, people from all around the world bring little branches of Palm tree to show their devotion to Christianity.

What makes it different than other countries?

People in Poland make palms out of artificial color flowers and ribbons. They usually stand up few meters in height, making it look different than other countries.

This is also the reason why making customized Palms is famous among children in Poland.

3. Pisanki

Eggs have been associated with Easter for a very long time because they symbolize birth.

Similarly,

Pisanki is a polish tradition that involves coloring the Easter eggs. Certain Easter events are specially held for painting and decorating the eggs. Children in Poland take painting the eggs very seriously and produce some of the finest Easter egg decorations.

4. Easter Gifts

You’d be surprised to know that in the past, there was no trend of giving each other gifts on the occasion of Easter.

Even now, there are hardly a few families who exchange gifts.

5. Wet Monday

Wet Monday is by far the weirdest tradition in Poland.

On wet Monday,

There is a tradition of throwing water on complete strangers. Sounds hilarious?

This is mostly common among the teenagers who fill up balloons of water and splash them on their friends.

Favorite Food on Easter

There can be many aspects of Easter in Poland that are different from other parts of the world but there is one tradition that aligns with the rest of the countries, that is food.

On the occasion of Easter, family brunches and dinners are held in order to commemorate this occasion as a whole. The typical types of food that you will find here are;

1. Zurek

It is a soup made from sausages and is usually eaten with eggs. It’s white in color and is mostly an appetizer to proceed with.

2. Bigos

An Easter dish that is famous for its similarity with wine is Bigos – the older it is, the better the taste of Bigos.

Bigos are made by cooking cabbage with meat and onions.

3. Mazurek

Easter is incomplete without a perfect Easter evening delight.

Mazurek is the favorite Easter dessert for the people in Poland. It is a pudding filled with layers of different creams such as chocolate, caramel, peanut butter and much more. It is as delicious as it is full of calories.

But,

It is still the favorite choice for Polish people.

Polish people don’t leave anything out for Easter celebrations.

If you’re looking for something different on Easter 2019, It is highly recommended that you travel to Poland and see how they are unique from others with their Easter celebrations.