Some argue that the largest Eastern Orthodox religious holiday is Easter, coming before Christmas in importance. While in Bulgaria it is difficult to say which of the two holidays is more significant, it is simply not possible to compare them. Easter is undoubtedly one of the most special times of the year for Bulgarians, especially when looking at the amount of time people devote to preparations as well as the amount of various traditions they follow in order to celebrate it.

In most cases, the Orthodox Easter and the Western Easter are celebrated on different dates due to the different calendars that the different churches follow. The Orthodox world estimates when Easter is according to the Julian calendar, while the Roman Catholic and Protestant world follows the Gregorian calendar. Moreover, according to Eastern Orthodox beliefs, Easter cannot be on or before the Jewish Passover. This year, the dates of the Western and the Orthodox Easters coincide, falling on April 8.

In Bulgaria, Easter is celebrated over three days. The week leading up to the holiday is called “the Passion week”, as literally translated from “strastnata sedmitsa” in Bulgarian. This is officially the time to think about the life of Jesus Christ during the last week before his crucifixion, but in the less religious Bulgaria it is mostly the week to prepare for the holiday in terms of shopping, cleaning and cooking.

Passion week is also the final one of Easter Lent, which lasts eight weeks and forbids the consumption of all animal products. According to some people, on the last day before the Resurrection, nothing is to be eaten. Others say that such fasting is to be done for three days. Only water is allowed.

One of the main traditions for the Bulgarian Easter holiday, and certainly the most fun one, is the colouring of Easter eggs, to be used for an egg “fight”, which I will explain later.

The dyeing is done on Maundy Thursday or the Saturday before Easter Sunday. Years ago, only red dye used to be used on the eggs, but nowadays people colour them in various colours, using artificial dyes. The dyeing of the eggs (which are first to be hard-boiled) is one of the most fun parts of Easter preparations, as normally it gets really messy. But it could also turn into a real creative activity.

Some people take the time to not just plunk the egg into the dye, but to dye some eggs in different colours or even make different images on them with the help of simple materials like grass, paper and wax (try crayons!).

The first egg to be coloured must always be red. The red colour symbolises the blood of Christ. When the egg is freshly taken out of the dye, the oldest woman in the house draws a cross with it on the forehead of each person in the family, paying special attention to the children, so that they are healthy throughout the year. This egg has to be placed in front of an icon and is to be left there until next the Easter so that it guards the home from evil. In the countryside, some people bury the egg in their field to protect the ground and the harvest from hail.

On Good Friday, no housework is to be done. The contrary is believed to bring bad luck. This indeed is one of the reasons for housewives who did not manage to paint the eggs on Thursday to do so on Saturday. An hour before midnight on Saturday, all churches begin the Easter liturgy. Families and friends go together to church, carrying coloured eggs with them. When the clock strikes 12am, they all congratulate each other with the words “Hristos vozkrese” (“Christ has risen”). The answer is “Voistina vozkrese” (“He has risen indeed”). They then walk around the church three times with candles in hand, led by the priest. The candles are carried back home as the people holding them try to keep them lit, which can be quite amusing if it’s windy.

While still at the church, though, the ever-important egg “fight” (in Bulgarian, “choukane s yaitsa”) begins, where all the efforts put into paining the eggs no longer matter. People take turns tapping their egg against the eggs of others. The person who ends up with the strongest egg – the one that remains uncracked – will be strong and healthy throughout the year. As many eggs were dyed, there should be plenty left for the rest of the week. Like with gift exchanges during Christmas, the egg fight during Easter is the most fun part of the holiday. Family members and friends spend real quality time together forgetting for a while about the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

On Sunday, because Lent is over, the tradition is to have a table laden with food, the most important of which is lamb. In Eastern Europe, this is particularly important, as Orthodox believers relate it to the death of Jesus Christ, because a lamb is believed to have been sacrificed in the name of Christ on Resurrection day.

Another traditional food during Easter in Bulgaria is kozunak, which is a type of sweet leaven bread. Italians have a similar type of bread called panettone. It is closest in taste to kozunak and is sold in other European countries.

Of course there are some variations on Easter traditions in different regions around Bulgaria, but these are the most widespread ones.