Historically Estonia was a Lutheran Christian nation but after World War Two that all changed. Today many Estonians identify as being spiritual, rather than religious and have a healthy respect for old ancient Pagan traditions. In the Estonian folk calendar Easter is a spring holiday, a time for cleaning and preparing for summer. Good Friday is a day of rest and Easter Sunday is a day of celebration that includes a large meal, painting eggs and the traditional Easter egg hunt.
Estonians prefer to paint their eggs with natural dyes. The chart below shows you how to achieve some great colours.
A tradtional game Estonians play on Easter Sunday is 'egg knocking'. The rule to the game is easy, simply tap the end of your egg against your opponent's and the shell that doesn't crack is the winner!
Easter is known by many different names in Estonia: Ületõusmispüha (Resurrection), Lihavõtted (literally means meat-taking holiday, marking the end of Lent) and Munadepüha (egg holiday).
