We all know that chocolate, hot cross buns and morris dancing are Easter traditions but now LSi brings you some of the weirdest traditions from around the world.

 

Simnel Cake

We all know that the voracious consumption of chocolate and a Sunday roast is a long-standing tradition in these scepter’d isles but did you know that is a tradition dating back to at least medieval times to have Simnel Cake at Easter? No? Us neither. Made with flour, sugar, butter, eggs, fragrant spices, dried fruit, zest, candied peel and two layers of marzipan it’s difficult to see why such a delicious tradition went out of style.

 

Egg Knocking

Marksville, Louisiana claims to have the oldest egg knocking competition in the USA. Contestants congregate on the steps of the town courthouse and in pairs tap the tips of their eggs together. If your egg cracks you lose, with the process continuing until there is one supreme winner. Sounds like a riveting spectator sport.

 

Murder Mystery Weekend

It’s well documented that the Nordic nations excel when it comes to crime stories but recently in Norway they’ve taken it one step further and dedicated the entire Easter weekend to celebrating murder mysteries. All major television channels schedule only crime dramas, magazines print detective stories and even milk cartons have short mysteries printed on them.

 

Spanking

In the Czech Republic and Slovakia it is tradition for men to spend Easter Monday spanking women with specially designed whips. The spankings are not intended to be painful and are a way for men to show their attraction to a woman. Legend has it that a woman should be spanked with the whip to keep her healthy and beautiful for the whole year. It all sounds very tasteful.

 

Benjamin Cook