Easter traditions in Greece start on Palm Sunday and continue through Easter Sunday. Some key traditions include attending church services, baking tsoureki bread and dyeing eggs red on Holy Thursday. On Good Friday, Greeks mourn the death of Jesus, and on Holy Saturday they attend the Resurrection service at midnight. After the service, families enjoy a feast including mageiritsa soup and the egg cracking tradition. On Easter Sunday, families gather to eat roast lamb and other treats while celebrating with music and dancing.

1. EASTER IN GREECE
Easter starts on Palm Sunday in Greece. It is the start of the Holy Week,
and Greeks usually attend church and receive a palm branch, which
symbolizes the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.
On Holy Thursday, people bake the traditional Easter bread, called
"tsoureki" and make Easter cookies (or “koulourakia in Greek). Tsoureki is
a sweet bread made with flour, sugar, milk, and butter, and is usually
flavoured with orange zest and aromatic spice mastic. It is a must-have in
every Greek household during Easter. People also dye hard-boiled eggs
red. The colour red symbolizes Christ's blood.
On Good Friday, Greeks attend church to mourn the death of Jesus. In
the evening, there is a procession where the Epitaphios (a decorated bier
symbolizing the body of Christ) is carried around the streets.
On Holy Saturday, preparations begin for the most important part of
Easter celebrations - the Resurrection. In the evening, people attend the
church and participate in the Resurrection service. At midnight, the
priest announces the Resurrection of Christ and lights a candle, which is
passed from person to person, signifying the spreading of the light of
Christ.
After the Resurrection service, families return home to enjoy a big feast,
which includes traditional dishes like “mageiritsa”- -a Greek Easter soup
made of lamb intestines and lettuce. It is their first meat-based meal
after Lent. After dinner, it’s time for the Greek Easter egg-cracking
tradition, where each person picks an egg and clinks it against the egg of
someone else. Together, the participants say to each other: - “Christ has
risen!” “He has risen, indeed!” The person whose egg remains uncracked is
believed to have good luck for the rest of the year.
Finally, on Easter Sunday, families gather together to have roast lamb on
the spit. and other Greek Easter treats, like ‘kokoretsi’. Everywhere
throughout Greece you can hear traditional Greek folk music on that day
and people eat, drink and dance the day away. It’s the perfect chance for
family members to reunite!