Sunday 17 April 2022

Happy Easter everyone! Häid lihavõttepühi!

Easter Sunday in Estonia is usually celebrated with egg dyeing, enjoying a long lunch and the traditional Easter egg hunt. It's common to decorate your own eggs. Typically the eggs are painted with natural dyes like onion skins, beetroot juice or spinach and then put in a basket as a centrepiece on the table.


Two of the most popular games played at Easter in Estonia is 'egg knocking' and 'egg rolling'. Both games require you to crack your opponent's eggs and the last one standing wins. According to the Estonian Folk Calendar, the colours of the eggs have meaning: pink means (gentle), green (hope), blue (fidelity), yellow (falsehood), and grey (balance). Girls would let the boys choose an Easter egg and depending on which they chose, the girls would then be able to judge their personalities.

Egg rolling is particularly popular in Setomaa as seen in this video.