Scandinavian Easter
Are you all prepared for Easter 2020?
No stress, order your Scandinavian Easter products now at NORDIC EXPAT SHOP and we make sure you get them in time. We deliver directly to your doorstep and online shopping is as easy as one-two-three. Have a look at our selection of Scandinavian Easter products here.
Easter is a tradition for many Scandinavian people and it’s all about spending time with family and friends and of course with plenty of food and drinks. The annual Easter lunch is just as important as the festive Christmas lunches in December. Scandinavians associate it very much with coziness. And as we all know, coziness comes with the right food and drinks. If you ask a Scandinavian what to drink with Easter lunch, they would say Schnapps or Easter brew. This can not be missed on the Easter lunch table. Have a look at our Easter beverages here.
In all Scandinavian gardens, the Easter Bunny hides eggs containing candy for children, but there are some different traditions per Scandinavian country:
Sweden
On Maunday Thursday, children dress up as witches and “go witching” to neighboring houses, where they exchange their homemade Easter letters with drawings and greetings for candy and small gifts. This harks back to an old Swedish folk tradition stating that, around this time of year, witches would fly on their broomsticks to dance with the devil at Blåkulla. It is unclear as to when this tradition began, but it can be traced back to at least the 19th Century.
Funny fact:
During Easter week, sales of candy in Sweden increase by 50% compared to any other week of the year. Swedes’ biggest candy day is Maunday Thursday.
In West Sweden, many thousand people gather around large bonfires to celebrate “Easter Fire”, an old tradition that intends to keep the witches away. In the past, the bonfires were built tens of meters tall. These days, they are somewhat shorter. Well before the main fires are lit, a smaller fire is ignited in order to attract spectators.
Denmark
In Denmark, it’s all about children collecting as many Easter eggs as possible. As a means of achieving this, they have been sending “gækkebrev” ever since the 16th Century. In Denmark kids make special, often intricate letters – gækkebreve – for their family members and friends, and the recipient has to guess who sent it. The letters are homemade and often look like snowflakes with holes in them. The recipient has three guesses to work out who the sender is. If they can’t, the sender is owed a chocolate egg. And if they do guess the sender – by deciphering a rhyme and counting the number of holes that correspond to the number of letters in the sender’s name – the sender owes them an egg.
Art galleries open exhibitions at Easter, showing everything that has been produced during the winter. Therefore, it is a tradition amongst many Danes to take the opportunity to enlighten their artistic side.
Danes also love their Easter breakfast, which usually lasts all day. Traditionally, this consists of herring, liver paté with bacon, fish fillet, smoked salmon, meatballs and rye bread, usually washed down with a beer or a glass of snaps.
Norway
Norwegians like to spend Easter in a cabin in the mountains with their family and friends. They go cross-country skiing, taking chocolate bars and oranges in their backpacks. It’s also common to grill sausages along the way in the snow.
Funny fact:
On average, Norwegians eat four oranges per person during Easter, or 20,000 in total.
Many people organise informal ski jump competitions and skiing races with neighbouring cabins, with fun prizes up for grabs.
We at NORDIC EXPAT SHOP know as no others how meaningful products from your home country can be, especially when times like Easter come up. Let us help you to create that perfect Scandinavian Easter far away from home.
Happy Easter Shopping!
